ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Looking to end the week's play on a high note, the Queens College volleyball team traveled to Rochester, N.Y. for an East Coast Conference match against the Redhawks of Roberts Wesleyan University inside the Voller Athletic Center.
After an uncharacteristic match to start the week, Queens would bounce back with career-high performances as three Knights combined in double-digit kills led by a career-high 23 kills from junior
Christina Franco (Lynbrook, N.Y.), while the duo of sophomore
Kendall Conrad (Carolltown, PA) and junior
Alicia Cervera (Valencia, Spain) combined for 30 kills as the Knights rallied to earn a 3-2
(Set Scores: 21-25, 25-22, 25-14, 21-25, 15-9) five-set victory over the Redhawks Sunday afternoon.
With the win, the Knights improved their overall record to 10-6 and 4-2 in conference play.
For the second straight season, head coach
Stefan Leger and the Knights have registered double-digit wins.
Match 16 Recap (Set Scores: 21-25, 25-22, 25-14, 21-25, 15-9)
It would be a sluggish start to the first set as the Knights fell behind 10-6 before the duo of Franco and Conrad helped start a 3-1 run to cut their deficit down to 11-9.
But the Redhawks would start a 5-2 run as Queens used their first timeout of the set trailing 16-11 to stop the home side run. With Roberts Wesleyan leading 19-12, Cervera and the Knights would start an 8-1 run as the visitors rallied back to knot the first set at 20-20.
However, the Redhawks would close out the first set with a 5-1 run to take a 1-0 match lead with a 25-21 first set victory.
The second set would see both teams exchange points early on and with the Knights leading 7-6, attacking errors would see Queens fall behind 16-9.
But a Redhawks service error would help Queens start an 8-1 run to tie the second set at 17-17. Roberts Wesleyan would use another 4-2 run to take a 21-19 advantage before Conrad and senior
Alexis Deodat (Tampa Bay, FL) combined for a 4-0 run as the Knights took control of the set with a 23-21 lead.
As the home side cut Queens lead down to 23-22, a kill from sophomore
Lindsay Osterhoudt (Orlando, FL) put the Knights at 24-22 set point before a service ace from junior
Despina Boudouris (Athens, Greece) sealed the second set with a 25-22 victory and knotted the match at 1-1.
The second set would see nine ties and four lead changes but the duo of Conrad and Franco would combine for 11 of 15 kills as Queens outhit Roberts Wesleyan .156 to .073 to tie the match at 1-1.
Using their second set victory momentum, Queens began the third set with two service aces from Conrad and a kill and block assist from Osterhoudt and Franco giving Queens an early 4-1 lead.
But the Redhawks would tie the set at 5-5 before the duo of Franco and Conrad took control with five straight kills for a 10-5 lead. But Franco would record three straight service aces as Queens took a commanding lead of 13-5.
Roberts Wesleyan would cut the Knights' advantage down to 16-10 before Queens ended the third set with a 9-4 run for a commanding 25-14 third set victory for a 2-1 match lead.
For the second straight set, Franco and Conrad would combine for 11 kills with the sophomore hitting a blistering .556 as Queens outhit the home side .231 to -.071 for a third set victory.
It would be a slow start to the fourth set for Queens as they fell behind 6-0 before the Knights rallied with a 7-1 run to tie the set at 7-7.
However, the Knights were unable to shake off the slow start as the home side forced a fifth set with a 25-21 fourth set victory.
For the second straight season, Leger and his Knights would need a fifth set victory inside the Voller Athletic Center.
It would be the fourth match of the year and second in conference play that the Knights would need to dig out a victory as they held a 2-1 record in matches going the distance.
After the Redhawks took a 1-0 lead to start the fifth set, led by a block party from the trio of Cervera, Deodat, and Osterhoudt, Queens would take a 5-1 lead.
The home side would use a 3-0 run to cut into Queens' advantage but timely kills by the Knights would continue to keep them ahead by one point.
With the Knights leading 7-6, three straight kills by Franco would put the Knights 10-6 before a service ace from sophomore
Jayna Marie Lorenzo (Rodeo, CA) extended the advantage to 11-6.
As the Redhawks cut the advantage down to 12-8, a block assist from the duo of Osterhoudt and Cervera along with two kills from Conrad would earn the Knights a 15-9 fifth set victory to earn a 3-2 match win and earn their fourth ECC win of the year.
By the Numbers
- Franco paced the Knights with her seventh double-double of the year as the Lynbrook native recorded a career-high 23 kills to go with 17 digs, three service aces, and tied a career-high three blocks.
- Conrad tallied 19 kills to go with eight digs, two service aces, and two blocks.
- Cervera recorded 11 kills, five digs, and tied a career-high four blocks in the victory.
- The duo of Deodat and Osterhoudt combined for nine kills, and 10 blocks.
- Boudouris recorded her ninth double-double of the year with a career-high 56 digs and 15 digs.
- The 56 assists are a program record in a single match since Jessica Yen recorded 55 assists against Georgian Court on October 27, 2015.
- For the second straight season, Boudouris has recorded 50+ plus assists in a match.
- Sophomore Sarah Munn (Torrance, CA) recorded a program-and-career high 31 dig performance to go with five assists and one service ace.
- The 31 digs are the most in a single match since Xhesi Domi recorded 30 digs on October 7, 2014, against Mercy.
- As a team, the Knights tallied season-high performances in the following categories
- 63 kills
- 62 assists
- 20 block assists
- 83 points
Next Match: Head Coach
Stefan Leger and the Knights will have the next week and a half off as they prepare for their final non-conference contest of the year on Thursday (Oct. 19) evening as they welcome the Panthers of Adelphi University to Flushing. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m.
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).
