BUFFALO, N.Y. – Looking to conclude their 2023 regular season road portion of the schedule on a high note, the Queens College volleyball team matched up against the Saints of D'Youville University inside the College Center Gym Sunday afternoon in East Coast Conference play.
Led by double-doubles from the junior duo of
Christina Franco (Lynbrook, N.Y.) and
Alicia Cervera (Valencia, Spain), the Knights rallied after a first-set loss to earn a 3-1 (
Set Scores: 24-26, 25-21, 26-24, 29-27) comeback victory over the Saints.
With the victory, the Knights improved to 13-9 overall and 7-4 in ECC play and have locked up an ECC postseason spot for the second straight season.
Match 22 Recap (Set Scores: 24-26, 25-21, 26-24, 29-27)
In a match that saw a total of 34 ties and 20 lead changes, it would be a back-and-forth battle between both sides throughout all four sets.
Queens began the first set with a 9-3 advantage before the Saints used a 4-0 run to cut the advantage down to 9-7 before the Knights used another 4-1 run to take a 13-8 advantage.
However, D'Youville would use a 10-5 run to tie the set at 18-18.
Both sides would exchange points before a kill by senior
Anjeline Arnakis (Bayside, N.Y.) and a Saints attacking error put the Knights up 23-21 forcing a D'Youville timeout.
Using the timeout to their advantage, the Saints would take the first set to the score of 26-24 for a 1-0 match lead.
Taking their momentum into the second set, the home side would take a 4-1 lead before Cervera started an 8-2 run for the Knights to jump ahead 9-6.
With the Knights leading 15-10, the Saints went on a 6-0 run to take a 16-15 slim lead.
But the Knights would swing the momentum their way as senior
Alexis Deodat (Tampa Bay, FL) and sophomore
Kendall Conrad (Carrolltown, PA) started a 5-0 run that included back-to-back service aces from Conrad.
The Saint would attempt to rally but with the score at 23-21, Franco would record her eighth kill of the second set before the Lynbrook knotted the match at 1-1 with a service ace for a 25-21 victory.
It would be another see-saw battle in the third set as both sides continued to answer each other runs. With the Knights trailing 15-14, a 6-1 run led by the duo of Cervera and Dedoat would see Queens take a 20-16 lead.
But the Knights attacking errors would see the Saints take a 24-22 lead before Queens rallied back to earn a 26-24 third set victory and take a 2-1 match lead.
The fourth set would see 14 ties and nine lead changes as both sides continued to keep the scoreline close.
With the set tied at 18-18, the Saints would use a 4-1 run to take a 22-19 lead before Franco and Cervera helped the Knights take a slim lead of 23-22.
However, the Saints would not go away with a fight as they used a 3-1 run to earn set-point for a 25-24 advantage.
But Deodat and sophomore
Elizabeth Cerullo (Saint James, N.Y.) would help the Knights stay in the set as they recorded back-to-back kills.
After the Saints tied the fourth set twice, the duo of Franco and Deodat would combine for a double block to put the Knights up 28-27 before the Tampa Bay native sealed the match with a service ace for a 29-27 fourth set victory and complete the series sweep over D'Youville.
By the Numbers
- Franco led the offense with her eighth double-double of the year as she matched a career-high 23 kills hitting .241 to go with 17 digs, three service aces, and tied a career-high three blocks on the day.
- In the second set, Franco tallied eight kills hitting a blistering .667 on 12 attempts.
- Cervera recorded her third double-double of the year with 13 kills, and 10 digs to go with two service aces and two blocks.
- Deodat recorded a season-high 11 kills hitting .350 to go a career-high best of eight blocks (three solo & eight assists).
- Conrad recorded eight kills to go with three digs and two service aces.
- For the second time this season, junior Despina Boudouris (Athens, Greece) would break the single-season assist record as she recorded a match-high 57 assists to go with nine digs.
- Sophomore Sarah Munn (Torrance, CA) recorded a match-high 21 digs to go with two assists.
- The Knights tied a season-high 11 blocks on the day.
Next Match: Head Coach
Stefan Leger and the Knights conclude their 2023 regular season on Friday (Nov. 10) evening as they welcome the Lions of Molloy University to town in a crucial ECC match.
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).
