BUFFALO, N.Y. – Looking to conclude their five-match road on a high note and end a three-match losing skid, the Queens College women's volleyball team matched up against the Saints of D'Youville University inside the Saints Center Gym in East Coast Conference play.
The trio of rookie
Madi Hathaway (Edmond, OK), juniors
Kendall Conrad (Carrolltown, PA), and
Lindsay Osterhoudt (Orlando, FLA) paced the Knights offense with Hathaway tying a career-best 18 kills, while Conrad recorded 14 kills and Osterhoudt notched a career-best nine blocks as the Knights trailing 2-1 in the match would rally to earn a five set match victory over the Saints.
With the win, the Knights improved to 17-9 overall and 7-2 in ECC play on the year. With the five-set victory, Queens completed their second ECC series sweep of the year, while both matches against D'Youville have gone the distance this year and three of the last four.
MATCH RECAP vs. D'Youville University (3-2, | Set Scores: 25-17, 23-25, 19-25, 25-18, 15-10)
Looking to shake off a three-match skid the junior duo of Osterhoudt and Conrad combined for four kills as the Knights opened the first set with a 4-1 advantage.
The Saints would slowly start to cut into the Knights' advantage as they were able to get within two, 9-7 before a Saints service error allowed Queens to build momentum to go on an 8-4 run for a lead of 17-11 to force a D'Youville timeout.
Using the timeout to their advantage, the Saints would rally off three straight points to force a Knights timeout at the score of 17-14.
The Knights' timeout would break the Saints' momentum as the home side committed five straight errors giving Queens a commanding lead of 22-14 before the duo of Osterhoudt and Hathaway combined for three kills to put the Knights up 1-0 with a 25-17 first set victory.
The second set would see Queens jump ahead to the score of 11-5 before an 11-3 run from the Saints saw them take a 16-14 lead forcing a Queens timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Knights would go on a 7-1 run as they took a 21-17 lead, but the Saints would not go away quietly as they were able to rally using an 8-2 run to tie the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 second set victory.
In the third set, the Knights jumped ahead 6-3 before the Saints used a 6-0 run to take a 9-6 lead.
As D'Youville continued to keep their lead intact, Queens would get within two points on two separate occasions, but it would be the home side that would take a 2-1 match lead with a 25-19 third set victory.
Trailing 2-1 and needing to bounce back, the Knights' offense came out of the gate firing as they took a commanding lead of 15-5 with senior
Alicia Cervera (Valencia, Spain) recording five kills.
With the Knights leading 17-7, the Saints would go down fighting as they were able to rally and cut the visitors' lead down to five points, 17-12.
But the Knights would answer back with a 5-1 run with Conrad recording two kills, a service ace from Osterhoudt, and a kill from rookie
Jonaida Donowa (Porter, TX) to go with a double block from Cervera and Donowa as Queens took a 22-13 lead to inch closer in tying the match.
However, the Saints would continue to fight back using a 5-1 run to trim the Knights' lead down to 23-18 before Donowa recorded her third kill of the set before the duo of Cervera and Osterhoudt combined for Queens' fourth block of the set to earn a 25-18 fourth set victory and tie the match at 2-2.
For the second time this season, the Knights would be going the distance against the Saints and the third fifth set match in four matches.
The Saints would record the first point of the deciding set before the Knights used a 4-1 run to take a 4-2 lead.
But as D'Youville answered back with a 3-1 run to tie the set at 5-5, the Knights determined to leave Buffalo with a victory would go on a 6-2 run to take a commanding lead of 11-7.
However, the Saints would tally three of the next five points to cut the lead down to 13-10 before Donowa and Osterhoudt recorded Queens' 14
th block of the match, a season-high to give the Knights match point. Conrad's 14
th kill of the match would seal the victory as Queens completed the rally to earn a 15-10 fifth set victory to the final score of 3-2 and earn their 17
th overall win of the year and seventh in conference play.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Rookie Hathaway recorded her eighth double-double of the year as she tied a career-best 18 kills performance on a hitting % of .375 to go with 15 assists, seven digs, and four blocks.
- Junior Conrad recorded 14 kills, seven digs, and three blocks.
- Rookie Donowa notched seven kills on a hitting % of .313, four blocks, and two digs.
- Junior Osterhoudt recorded five kills, a career-best four service aces, and nine blocks.
- The nine total blocks in a single match tie for the second most in a match since Arielle DiCocco recorded nine against Daemen on October 3, 2015.
- While the seven block assists tie the second most in a match since Taylor Smith recorded the effort against Roberts Wesleyan on November 4, 2022.
- Senior Cervera recorded six kills, three blocks, and one dig.
- Senior Christina Franco (Lynbrook, N.Y.) notched 16 digs, three kills, and two service aces in the victory.
- Senior Despina Boudouris (Athens, Greece) recorded 31 assists, six digs, and one kill in the victory.
- The duo of junior Sarah Munn (Torrance, CA) and rookie Sophie Schonauer (Bakersfield, CA) combined for 31 digs, and three assists.
NEXT MATCH
The Knights will use the week to prepare for their final home match of the year on Sunday, Nov. 10 as they welcome the Redhawks of Roberts Wesleyan University to town on Senior Day. 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).
