FLUSHING, N.Y. – Continuing their East Coast Conference homestand Sunday afternoon, the Queens College women's volleyball team welcomed D'Youville University Saints to Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
It would be a back-and-forth affair against the Saints as Queens won the first two sets before D'Youville battled back to force the deciding fifth set. For the second straight season against the Saints, the final outcome of the match would come in the fifth set. In the fifth set, the junior duo of
Kendall Conrad (Carrolltown, PA) and
Lindsay Osterhoudt (Orlando, FLA) combined for eight kills as the Knights withstood a late rally from the Saints to earn their third straight ECC victory of the year to the final score of 3-2 Sunday afternoon.
With the win, the Knights improved to 13-5 on the year and 3-0 in ECC play.
With Sunday's victory head coach
Stefan Leger and the Knights have matched 2023 wins total.
MATCH RECAP vs. D'Youville University (W, 3-1 | Set Scores: 25-18, 25-22, 12-25, 21-25, 15-12)
The Knights got off to a strong note in the opening set as they took an early lead of 10-5 as the offense recorded six kills.
But the Saints would rally as they took advantage of Knights' error to get within two, 12-10 before Osterhoudt and rookie
Madi Hathaway's (Edmond, OK) notched back-to-back kills and a block to take a 15-10 lead.
The visitors responded with a 5-2 run to cut the advantage down to two, 17-15 before a kill from Conrad started a final run of 8-3 as the Knights earned a first set victory of 25-18 to take a 1-0 match lead.
The second set would see 10 ties and two lead changes as both teams answered each other point for point.
With the second set tied at 21-21, an attacking error from the Saints combined with a kill from rookie
Jonaida Donowa (Porter, TX) would see the Knights take a 23-21 lead forcing the Saints to use their final timeout.
The timeout would help break the momentum as they were able to cut Queens' advantage down to one, 23-22 before a Saints attacking error gave Queens set point of 24-22. A kill from senior
Christina Franco (Lynbrook, N.Y.) would seal the second set as Queens took a 2-0 lead with a 25-22 second set victory.
The Saints opened the third set on a 10-3 run and never looked back as the Knights committed nine attacking errors to drop the third set to the score of 25-12 and saw their lead cut down to one, 2-1.
In the fourth set, it would be the visitors who came out firing once again as they took an early lead 6-2 lead before the Knights responded with a 5-1 to tie the set at 7-7.
But the Saints once again answered back using a 10-5 run to take a 17-12 advantage. However, the Knights would not go away quietly as Queens used a 7-3 run led by rookie
Olivia Hyman (Forest Hills, N.Y.) notching two service aces and the Knights making a presence at the net with three blocks to cut their deficit down to one, 20-19.
However, the Saints would close the fourth set on a 5-2 run to tie the match at 2-2 with a 25-21 fourth set victory.
Looking to regroup quickly and the Saints looking to avenge last year's reverse sweep, the Knights duo of Osterhoudt and Conrad would have other ideas as they tallied five kills, while junior
Sarah Munn (Torrance, CA) notched two service aces to go with a block from senior
Alicia Cervera (Valencia, Spain) and Donowa as Queens took a commanding lead of 10-1.
But the Saints would not go away quietly as they put together a 9-2 run as the Knights committed five errors as a 10-1 lead was cut down to 12-10.
However, a Saints attacking error to go with Osterhoudt's third kill of the set would put Queens at match point before the Saints responded again with back-to-back points to cut the home side advantage down to 14-12.
Staying composed, senior
Despina Boudouris (Athens, Greece) connected with Osterhoudt for the junior to record a season-high 11 kills and her fourth kill of the set to help clinch the match to a thrilling 15-12 fifth set victory and improve to 13-5 on the year and 3-0 in conference play.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Junior Conrad led the way with a match-tying-season-high 17 kills to go with four blocks, three digs, and two service aces.
- Junior Osterhoudt recorded a season-high 11 kills on a scorching .400 hitting % to go with three blocks and one assist.
- Franco recorded her sixth double-double of the year with 10 kills, and 18 digs (matching a season-high) to go with one block and two assists.
- The rookie pair of Donowa and Hathaway combined for 10 kills, eight assists, four blocks, and three digs.
- Boudouris fell short of her fourth double-double recording 34 assists, nine digs, two kills, and one block.
- Munn tallied a single-match program-record 35 digs to go with five assists and three service aces.
- The rookie pair of Hyman and Sophie Schonauer (Bakersfield, CA) combined for 16 digs, two service aces, and one assist in the victory.
NEXT MATCH
The Knights continue their homestand on Thursday, Oct. 10 as they welcome the Lions of Molloy University 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).
