PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Returning to non-conference play to open the week the Queens College women's volleyball team traveled to Pleasantville for a matchup against the Setters of Pace University inside the Goldstein Fitness Center.
With the last five meetings going to a minimum of four sets and with the last two going the full distance, the duo of senior
Christina Franco (Lynbrook, N.Y.) and freshman
Madi Hathaway (Edmond, OK) would have other ideas on Wednesday as they combined for 17 kills and hit over .300 in the match as the Knights earned their third straight non-conference sweep with Queens earning a 3-0 victory over the Setters.
With the win, the Knights improved to 11-5 on the year and earned their first sweep over the Setters since the 2008 season when Queens completed the sweep on October 17. It is the first road sweep inside the Goldstein Fitness Center since October 21, 2003.
MATCH RECAP vs. Pace University (W, 3-0 | Set Scores: 25-16, 25-22, 25-20)
The first set saw four ties and two lead changes as the Setters began the match taking an early of 8-6 before a kill from senior
Alicia Cervera (Valencia, Spain) helped Queens start an 11-2 run as they took a 17-10 lead forcing the Setters to take a timeout.
Pace would try to unsettle the Knights going on a 5-2 run out of the timeout, but once again a kill from Cervera would see the Knights close out the set on a 6-2 run with a kill from Franco and junior
Lindsay Osterhoudt (Orlando, FLA) sealing the first set to the score of 25-16 and taking a 1-0 match lead.
The trio of Hathaway, Cervera, and Osterhoudt combined for nine kills on 15 attempts in the first set.
The second set would be a close and back-and-forth affair which saw 12 ties and five lead changes.
With the set tied at 6-6, Queens would go on a 4-0 run led by a kill from Franco and a service ace from rookie
Jonaida Donowa (Porter, TX) as the Knights took a 10-6 lead and forced a Setters timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Setters once again would try to unsettle the Knights, but the duo of Franco and Hathaway combined for four kills as Queens took a 14-10 advantage but errors would hurt Queens as Pace went on a 7-1 run to take a 17-15 lead.
Trailing by two, junior
Kendall Conrad (Carrolltown, PA) started a 4-0 run as the Knights reclaimed a 19-17 lead before the Setters responded with three points to take a 20-19 lead.
The Setters would come back to tie the second set on two separate occasions, 21-21, 22-22 before Franco's sixth kill of the third set started a final 3-0 run and put Queens in the driver's seat with a 2-0 match lead with a 25-22 second set victory.
In the driver's seat and Franco beginning the third set at the service line, the senior would help Queens begin the third set on a 6-0 advantage before the home side responded with a 13-5 run as they took a 13-11 lead.
A service error from the Setters would start a 9-2 run for Queens as the Knights notched three blocks and three kills to take a commanding lead of 20-15.
Pace would stay close to three points but Conrad and Franco combined for two kills in the final 3-1 run to complete the three set victory to the final score of 25-20 and earn their 11
th victory of the year.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Senior Franco led the way recording a team-high nine kills on a hitting % of .350 to go with a match-high 17 digs and tallied two blocks, two assists, and one service ace.
- Rookie Hathaway fell short of her sixth triple-double notching eight kills on a hitting % of .313, 13 assists, nine digs, and two blocks.
- The trio of Conrad, Osterhoudt, and Donowa combined for 16 kills, nine blocks, and 10 digs in the victory.
- Senior Despina Boudouris (Athens, Greece) recorded a match-high 16 assists to go with four digs.
- Junior Sarah Munn (Torrance, CA) recorded 14 digs and three assists.
NEXT MATCH
The Knights open a season-high five-match homestand beginning on Saturday, Oct. 5 as they welcome defending East Coast Conference champions Wildcats of Daemen University to town. The first serve is set for noon.
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).
