LAKEWOOD, N.J. – Playing in the fourth and final match of Saturday's Georgian Court Invitational, the Queens College volleyball team matched up against host school the Lions of Georgian Court University at the GCU Wellness Center in non-conference action.
Match Recap (Final Score 1-3 | Sets 20-25, 15-25, 25-22, 22-25)
The Knights came out slow to start the first set as they fell behind 4-0 before a kill by senior
Alexis Deodat (Tampa Bay, FL) got the visitors on the scoreboard. But a 7-3 run by the Lions put them up front with an 11-3 advantage.
A kill by senior
Anjeline Arnakis (Bayside, N.Y.) stopped the run and started an 8-0 run as freshman
Kendall Conrad (Carrolltown, PA) tallied three straight kills for Queens to tie the set 11-11.
The first set saw two ties but a 5-2 run by the Lions would put the Knights behind before eventually falling 25-20.
Queens stayed close in the early going of the second set as they tied the second set twice and led a 7-6 lead. But a combination of 10 attacking and reception errors would put Queens in a 2-0 hole as they dropped the second set 25-15 with the Knights hitting only .067 compared to .344 by the Lions.
With Georgian Court looking to close out the match for a 3-0 win, the home side tallied four service aces as they took a 5-0 lead forcing the Knights to burn an early timeout.
Out of the timeout, Queens fought back but as they started to cut into the deficit. Trailing 10-5, freshman
Elizabeth Cerullo's (Saint James, N.Y.) kill started a 6-2 run as the young Knights squad start to find their swing.
After back-to-back kills by the Lions put them head 14-11, Conrad started a 5-0 run before classmate
Ryann Frontera (Dripping Springs, TX) notched two service aces to tie the third set 14-14 before a kill by Deodat gave Queens a 15-14 lead and forced a Georgian Court timeout.
Unfazed by the break, Frontera tallied her third service ace of the run as Queens went up 16-14. A lions attack would stop the run before Deodat and Frontera put together a 4-0 run for a 20-15 lead, their biggest lead of the match.
An experienced Lions side refused to go away as they trimmed the Knights' lead down to 20-19 forcing the Knights to take their last timeout.
A kill by Cerullo put the Knights two points away from forcing a fourth set with a 23-20 lead.
But the Lions' attack would find two holes in the visitors' defense as they got within one, 23-22 before Freshman
Lindsay Osterhoudt (Orlando, FL) defended the net with back-to-back kills to force a fourth set with a 25-22 victory.
Led by Osterhoudt and Deodat's six kills, the Knights showed they were not going away without a fight as the offense outhit the Lions .423 with one error while forcing eight GCU attacking errors as the home side hit only .132.
But a slow start would derail the Knights to begin the fourth set as they fell behind 8-2. Trailing 12-5, Queens would start a comeback as Conrad tallied four kills in the Knights' 11-2 run to take a 16-14 lead.
After the Lions tied the fourth set 16-16, Cerullo and sophomore
Alicia Cervera Sospedra (Valencia, Spain) combined for four kills to take a 20-17 lead as the Knights were within distance of forcing a deciding fifth set.
After a Lions kill got them within two, 20-18, Queens were undone by a questionable ball handling error as the home side squeezed the momentum out of the young Knights squad.
With the Knights hitting above .300 in the fourth set, they would be hurt by three attacking errors before eventually falling 25-22 and dropping another closely contested 3-1 match.
Match Highlights
- Conrad tallied a career-high 15 kills as the rookie touched double-digits for the second straight match to go with nine digs and two blocks.
- Deodat notched nine kills, while the duo of Sospedra (7 kills) and Cerullo (6 kills) tallied career-highs in kills in the contest.
- Frontera notched a match-high 21 digs and three service aces.
- Sophomore Despina Boudouris (Athens, Greece) tallied 19 assists while freshman Jayna Marie Lorenzo (Rodeo, CA) notched her first career double-double with a career-high 19 assists and 14 digs in the match.
- Following the conclusion of the GCU Invitational, Osterhoudt was named to the All-Tournament Team as she tallied 17 kills and 13 blocks for 25.5 points.
UP NEXT: Head Coach
Stefan Leger and his Knights will now use the week to prepare for the SCSU Tri-Match on Saturday (Sept. 10) as they match up against Le Moyne College Dolphins and host Southern Connecticut State University Owls. First serve is set for 10:00 A.M.
For the latest news on Queens College Athletics, follow the Knights at queensknights.com or via social media on Facebook (Queens College Athletics), Twitter (@QCKnights), and Instagram (qcknightsny), women's volleyball (qcknightsvb).
