FLUSHING, N.Y. – Opening the final weeks of the regular season, the Queens College volleyball team returned to action Thursday evening as they welcomed the Panthers of Adelphi University to Flushing to conclude non-conference play.
Led by a career-high 24 kills from sophomore
Kendall Conrad (Carrolltown, PA), the Knights pushed the right buttons as they took a 2-1 match lead, but the Panthers would dig out a win to defeat Queens to the final score of 3-2
(Set Scores: 19-25, 25-21, 27-25, 20-25, 13-15) inside Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
For the first time in over 18 years, the Knights took their regional foe to five sets as head coach
Stefan Leger and his Knights took Adelphi to a match beyond three sets for the first time since the 2005 season.
Queens conclude their non-conference play with a record of 6-5.
Match 17 Recap (Set Scores: 19-25, 25-21, 27-25, 20-25, 13-15)
Returning to play for the first time in over a week and a half, the Knights began the first set on a right note as junior
Alicia Cervera (Valencia, Spain) recorded two kills in a quick 4-1 lead.
As the Panthers trimmed the Knights advantage to down 4-3, Conrad would record three of the four kills for an 8-5 lead. However, a 6-1 run by the visitors would see them take an 11-9 lead before Cervera notched two more kills as the Knights tied the set at 12-12.
But a 5-2 run by the Panthers would see them start a run to win the first set to the score of 25-19 for a 1-0 lead.
The second set would see both teams combine for 14 ties and 10 lead changes as neither side was able to build an advantage above two points.
As Adelphi took an 18-17 lead, Conrad and junior
Despina Boudouris (Athens, Greece) would help Queens take a 19-18 lead forcing an Adelphi timeout. The timeout would help the Panthers break Queens momentum as they reclaimed a slim lead of 20-19.
However a kill and service ace from
Christina Franco (Lynbrook, N.Y.) would give Queens the lead for good before Conrad recorded her sixth kill of the set for a commanding lead of 22-20.
Once again a Panthers timeout would break the momentum to cut Queens advantage down to 22-21 before the Knights closed out the second set on a 3-0 run as a double block from Conrad and senior
Alexis Deodat (Tampa Bay, FL) gave the Knights set-point before the sophomore recorded her seventh kill of the second set to help Queens tie the match at 1-1 for a 25-21 set victory.
The second set victory would give Queens their first set victory over Adelphi for the first time since the 2012 season when they fell in four sets at home on September 20, 2012.
The third set would be another back-and-forth affair as the set saw 13 ties and seven lead changes.
With the Knights leading 8-7, the Panthers would start an 8-2 run as the visitors started to run away in the third set to take a 15-10 advantage.
Trailing by five, Cervera would record two kills in the Knights' 5-0 run to knot the set at 15-15 before both sides exchanged small runs again.
A 5-3 run by Adelphi would see them take a 23-21 lead but once again the Knights would battle back behind another kill from Cervera and a solo block from sophomore
Lindsay Osterhoudt (Orlando, FL) as Queens reclaimed a 24-23 lead.
The Panthers would take a 25-24 lead but the Knights would dig deep as Conrad recorded two kills in the final 3-0 run as Queens earned a hard-fought 27-25 third set victory to take a commanding match lead of 2-1 on the evening.
With the momentum behind them, the sophomore pair of Conrad and
Sarah Munn (Torrance, CA) would give the Knights an early lead of 5-2.
But the tough regional foe would battle back to take a 12-10 lead, but a Panthers service error would start an 8-3 Knights run with the duo of Munn and Conrad recording a combined three service aces for an 18-15 lead.
However, attacking errors would hurt the Knights as the visitors forced a winner-take-all fifth set with a 10-2 run to close out the fourth set for a 25-20 victory and knot the match at 2-2.
For the first time since the 2005 season, the Knights would be battling their Garden City foe in a five-set match which saw the Knights emerge victorious in the 3-2 win on October 25, 2005.
Thursday's fifth set decider would be Queens' fifth match of the season to go the distance.
After the Panthers took the first point of the fifth set, a kill from Osterhoudt and Cervera put the Knights up 2-1 before a 5-2 run saw Adelphi go up 6-3.
Queens would battle back to cut their deficit down to 8-6 before another 3-0 run saw Adelphi take an 11-6 lead.
However, the Knights would go down fighting as they went on a 7-3 run to get within 14-13 before a final kill from the Panthers saw Queens fall 15-13 in the fifth set as they dropped their final non-conference match of the year.
By the Numbers
- Conrad paced the Knights' offense recording a career-high 24 kills to go with nine digs, three blocks, and one service ace.
- The 24 kills are the second most in the modern era by a Knight since Arielle DiCocco recorded 25 kills against Georgian Court on October 27, 2015.
- In the second set, Conrad recorded seven kills hitting a scorching .500 on 12 attempts.
- Cervera tallied her second double-double of the year with 12 kills and 12 digs.
- Osterhoudt tallied seven kills and tied a season-high three solo blocks on the evening.
- Franco notched six kills, 14 digs, and two service aces.
- Deodat recorded three kills and a season-high six blocks in the match.
- Boudouris recorded her 10th double-double of the year with a match-high 44 assists and 19 digs to go with three kills and two service aces.
- Munn tallied a team-high 24 digs, to go with four assists and a career-high four service aces.
Next Match: Head Coach
Stefan Leger and the Knights open the second half of East Coast Conference play on Sunday (Oct. 22) afternoon as they welcome the Redhawks of Roberts Wesleyan University to town. First serve is set for noon.
Follow the Knights
All home games will be live-streamed on the
ECC Sports Network and fans can follow along on
live stats as well.
For the latest news on Queens College Athletics, follow the Knights at queensknights.com or via social media on Facebook (Queens College Athletics), X (Formerly Twitter) (@QCKnights), and Instagram (qcknightsny), women's volleyball (qcknightsvb).
