DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – Looking to conclude their regular season on a strong note, the Queens College women's volleyball team traveled to Dobbs Ferry for an East Coast Conference match against the Mavericks of Mercy University inside the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center Saturday afternoon.
Rookie
Madi Hathaway (Edmond, OK) paced the offense recording her eighth triple-double of the year, while the duo of junior
Kendall Conrad (Carrolltown, PA) and senior
Christina Franco (Lynbrook, N.Y.) combined for 16 kills but the Knights would fall in a tough four-set loss to the Mavericks.
MATCH RECAP vs. Mercy University (L, 1-3 | Set Scores: 25-19, 21-25, 19-25, 24-26)
It would be an early back-and-forth affair in the first set as the Knights held a lead of 8-5.
Led by back-to-back kills from Hathaway and junior
Lindsay Osterhoudt (Orlando, FLA), the Knights would go on a 10-4 run as they took a commanding lead of 18-9 in the first set.
The Mavericks would respond with a 6-1 run as they cut the visitors' lead down to four, 19-15 before the duo of senior
Alicia Cervera (Valencia, Spain) and rookie
Jonaida Donowa (Porter, TX) combined for a 5-0 run as Queens took a 24-15 lead. Mercy would attempt to cut into the lead before a Mavericks attacking error gave the Knights a first set victory of 25-19 and a 1-0 match.
Queens opened the second set with a 5-1 advantage before extending their lead to 11-7.
But the Mavericks would slowly start to cut into the visitors lead as they went on a 9-5 run to tie the set at 16-16.
Back-to-back Mavericks errors would see Queens take an 18-16 lead but the home side would close out the second set and tie the match at 1-1 with a 25-21 victory.
Queens fell behind 8-4 and 12-6 in the third set and were unable to recover as they committed seven attacking errors as the Mavericks took a 2-1 match lead with a 25-19 third set victory.
Needing to force a deciding fifth set, the Knights fell behind 3-0 before a Mavericks service error started an 8-0 run for Queens with Franco recording two service aces, while the team combined for two kills and two blocks for an 8-3 advantage.
The Knights would continue to build their lead as they led by six, 16-10 before the Mavericks went on a 9-3 run to tie the set at 19-19.
As a Hathaway kill helped Queens take a 20-19 lead, the Mavericks responded with a 4-1 run to take a 23-21 lead.
A Mercy service error combined with Cervera recording back-to-back kills would put the Knights at set point 24-23 and closer to forcing the deciding fifth set. But it would be the Mavericks who would earn the victory as they ended the match with three straight points to defeat Queens to the final score of 26-24 Saturday afternoon.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Rookie Hathaway paced the Knights' offense recording her eighth triple-double of the year a team-high 12 kills, 12 assists, 10 digs, and a career-best six blocks.
- Senior Franco recorded eight kills, five digs, three service aces, one block, and one assist.
- Junior Conrad notched eight kills, four digs, and two blocks.
- Senior Cervera recorded six kills, one dig, and one block in the match.
- Junior Osterhoudt recorded five kills to go with six blocks and three service aces.
- Rookie Donowa notched four kills and four blocks in the match.
- Senior Despina Boudouris (Athens, Greece) recorded 17 assists, two digs, and one service ace.
- Junior Sarah Munn (Torrance, CA) recorded a match-high 13 digs, and five assists in the match.
Regular Season Record
Head coach
Stefan Leger and the Knights conclude the regular season with an overall record of 19-10 overall and 9-3 in ECC play.
With a record of 9-3 in East Coast Conference play, the Knights earn a share of the Regular Season Championship with Daemen University. It is the program's second ECC regular title and the first since the 2004 season. Queens earns the #2 seed to the upcoming ECC Volleyball Tournament. More details to follow soon.
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).
