FLUSHING, N.Y. – Continuing their East Coast Conference homestand Thursday evening, the Queens College women's volleyball team welcomed Molloy University Lions to Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
With the match at 1-1 after two complete sets, senior
Christina Franco (Lynbrook, N.Y.) would record five service aces in the third set before the Knights recorded 13 kills with the junior duo of
Kendall Conrad (Carrolltown, PA) and
Lindsay Osterhoudt (Orlando, FLA) combining for six kills in the fourth set as the Knights withstood a late rally from the Lions to earn their fourth straight ECC victory of the year to the final score of 3-1 Thursday evening.
With the win, the Knights improved to 14-5 on the year and 4-0 in ECC play. Thursday's win over the Lions ends a four-match losing streak earning Queens their first victory over Molloy since October 4, 2022.
With Thursday's victory fifth-year head coach
Stefan Leger and the Knights have recorded the most wins under his guidance breaking the 13 wins set last season.
MATCH RECAP vs. Molloy University (W, 3-1 | Set Scores: 25-15, 25-23, 25-9, 25-22)
The Knights got off to a strong start in the first set taking an early lead of 7-2 and 11-4 as Queens took advantage of the Lions' attacking errors.
Molloy would use a 6-2 run to get within three, 13-10 before Conrad and rookie
Jonaida Donowa (Porter, TX) notched two kills and a block to start a 7-1 run for a 20-11 advantage.
Having taken a nine-point advantage and the Lions recording 14 attacking errors the Knights would earn a 25-15 first set victory for a 1-0 match lead.
The Lions opened the second set on an 11-5 run before Queens rallied on a 7-1 run to tie the set at 12-12. But the visitors responded with a 7-1 run of their own to take a 19-13 lead forcing a Queens timeout.
Queens used the timeout to their advantage as they answered back with a 7-2 run with Donowa and Franco combining for four kills to get within one, 21-20. But the Lions would tie the match at 1-1 earning a 25-23 second set victory.
The Knights opened the third set with a 2-0 run before the Lions took a 3-2 but with Conrad recording four kills and two service aces from junior
Sarah Munn (Torrance, CA) Queens went up 9-3 and never looked back to earn 25-9 third set victory and take a 2-1 match lead.
In the third set, the Knights notched nine kills with Conrad recording five kills on a scorching hitting % of .455 while four players in Franco, Munn, senior
Despina Boudouris (Athens, Greece), and junior
Maya Angelova (Kyustendil, Bulgaria) combined for nine service aces to lead the way.
The fourth set would see eight ties and four lead changes as both sides traded runs.
With Queens leading 12-8, the Lions answered back with a 7-3 run to tie the set at 15-15 before Conrad took matters into her own hands to lead the Knights to a victory.
In a 7-3 run the junior recorded a kill and two blocks before
Olivia Hyman (Forest Hills, N.Y.) notched an ace followed by a kill from Angelova for a 19-15 advantage. Both sides would trade the next 10 points as Queens kept their four-point intact with Osterhoudt recording her third kill of the set to put the Knights at match point of 24-20.
The Lions responded with back-to-back points forcing a Knights timeout to stop the Lions' momentum. Out of the timeout, a kill from Donowa would seal Queens' 14
th victory of the year as the Knights earned a 25-22 fourth set victory and match at 3-1 to improve to 4-0 in ECC play.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Junior Conrad led the way with a match-high 11 kills to go with four blocks and two digs.
- Junior Osterhoudt recorded eight kills on a .313 hitting % to go with a season-tying five blocks and one dig.
- Donowa notched eight kills on a hitting % of .300 to go with two blocks, and one dig.
- Franco recorded five kills, and 12 digs and tied a career-best five service aces in the victory.
- Senior Alicia Cervera (Valencia, Spain) recorded four kills, three digs, and two digs in the victory.
- Boudouris tallied her fourth double-double of the year with a match-high 36 assists, 12 digs, and three service aces.
- Munn tallied a team-high 17 digs, three service aces, and one assist.
- Hyman recorded seven digs, a career-best five service aces, one assist, and one kill in the victory.
NEXT MATCH
The Knights continue their homestand on Tuesday, Oct. 15 as they welcome the Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas College to town in ECC play. The first serve is set for 7:00 p.m.
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).
