AMHERST, N.Y. – Making their third straight East Coast Conference postseason appearance and second time as the #2 seed, the Queens College women's volleyball team matched up against #3 seed Mercy University Mavericks Friday evening inside Lumsden Gymnasium for a spot in the ECC Championship match.
 
Three Knights paced the offense led by rookie Madi Hathaway (Edmond, OK) notching her 10^th double-double of the year with 16 kills and 21 assists, senior Christina Franco (Lynbrook, N.Y.) tallied her ninth double-double with 13 kills and 14 digs and junior Kendall Conrad (Carrolltown, PA) recorded 11 kills but in a match that lasted two hours and 19 minutes as both teams answered each other set for set, it would be the Mavericks who would earn the five-set victory over the Knights Friday evening.

MATCH RECAP vs. Mercy University (L, 2-3 | Set Scores: 28-30, 25-22, 18-25, 25-22, 11-15)

The first set saw a combined 20 ties and eight lead changes as both teams would continue to response to each other. The Mavericks jumped out to a 7-3 lead before the Knights answered back with a 6-2 run to tie the set at 9-9.
 
In an evenly matched set, both sides would continue to battle each other point for point. With the Knights trailing 18-16, Queens would combine for three kills on a 4-1 run to take a slim lead of 20-19.
 
But as the Mavericks answered back with back-to-back points for a 22-21 advantage, the Knight would continue to stay in the set but as an attacking error gave Mercy a 26-25 lead, back-to-back blocks from junior Lindsay Osterhoudt (Orlando, FLA) and senior Alicia Cervera (Valencia, Spain) would get Queens at 27-26 but Mercy would earn the first set victory to the score of 30-28 for a 1-0 lead.
 
Mercy opened the second set with a 3-2 lead before the trio of Conrad, Franco, and rookie Jonaida Donowa (Porter, TX)  along with a block from Cervera would help Queens take a 7-5 lead.
 
But the Mavericks would respond with a 5-2 to take a slim lead of 10-9 before a Mercy service error combined with blocks from Osterhoudt and Conrad helped Queens take a 13-10 lead.
 
As Queens continued to keep their two-point lead intact with timely offense with the rookie duo of Donowa and Hathaway combining for eight kills as the Knights tied the match at 1-1 with a 25-22 second set victory.
 
The third set would be a slow start as Queens fell behind to the score of 7-4, and 16-7. But the Knights would go away without a fight as they answered back with a 10-3 run to get within two, 19-17. But the Mavericks would hold off Queens rally to take a 2-1 match lead with a 25-18 third set victory.
 
Needing to quickly answer back, a kill from Hathaway and a service ace from Olivia Hyman (Forest Hills, N.Y.) would help Queens the fourth set with a 2-1 advantage before the Mavericks went on a 6-1 run to take a 7-3 lead.
 
Behind the trio of Conrad, Franco, and senior Despina Boudouris (Athens, Greece) Queens would battle back to tie the set at 9-9.
 
However, the Mavericks would respond with a run of their own as they took a 15-10 lead. As both sides traded the next six points, but with the Knights trailing 18-13, a kill from Donowa and a solo block from Maya Angelova (Kyustendil, Bulgaria) would help Queens start a 6-1 run as the Knights rallied back to tie the set at 19-19 behind a service ace from Boudouris.
 
But as the Mavericks responded with back-to-back points for a 22-21 lead, a Mavericks service error would tie the set at 22-22 before Hyman took over at the service line. A Mercy attacking error put the Knights ahead to the score of 23-22 before the rookie from Forest Hill notched a service ace to give Queens set point at 24-22. Conrad's third kill of the set would officially give Queens the set point as the Knights had answered back to tie the match at 2-2 with a 25-22 fourth set victory.
 
Firday's five-set match to decide the winner would be the first match between both sides since October 6, 2011.
 
Having answered back twice while trialing in the match, the Knights behind Hathaway and Franco would take a 3-1 lead to begin the fifth set.
 
But the five-set match which had combined for 39 ties and 21 lead changes and lasted close to two and half hours, it would be the Mavericks who would advance to the Championship match as they dealt Queens a heartbreaking five-set loss to the score of 15-11 to earn a 3-2 match victory Friday evening.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Rookie Hathaway paced the Knights' offense recording her 10^th double-double of the year with a team-high 16 kills, 21 assists, eight digs, and three service aces.
• Senior Franco recorded 13 kills, 14 digs, two service aces, and two assists.
• Junior Conrad notched 11 kills, three digs, four blocks, and one assist.
• Rookie Donowa tallied nine kills, three blocks, and two digs.
• Senior Cervera tallied four kills, three blocks, and one dig.
• Junior Osterhoudt recorded three kills, four blocks, two digs, and one assist.
• Senior Boudouris recorded 23 assists, six digs, two service aces, and one kill.
• Junior Sarah Munn (Torrance, CA) tallied 16 digs, three assists and one service aces.

NCAA East Regional Watch

Head coach Stefan Leger and the Knights (19-11 overall record) ranked seventh in the latest NCAA East Regional Poll will now wait to see if their name will be called on Selection Monday, November 25 at 7:30 p.m.

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