RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Continuing their season-opening five-match road stand on Tuesday evening, the Queens College women's volleyball team traveled to Rutherford, N.J. for a non-conference match-up against the Golden Falcons of Felician Univesity inside JJJ Gymnasium.
Queens began the match by taking the first set before the home side came back to tie the match at 1-1 but the Knights' offense would combine for 24 kills in the next two sets to earn a four-set victory over the Golden Falcons.
For the first time under fifth-year head coach
Stefan Leger, the Knights begin the season with an overall record of 5-0. The 5-0 start to the season is just the second time in program history and first since the 2007 season that Queens has begun the season undefeated.
MATCH RECAP vs. Felician (W, 3-1 | Set Scores: 25-22, 23-25, 25-18, 25-16)
The Knights opened the first set on a strong note as they took a quick 7-2 lead behind three kills and two blocks. Queens would continue to build on their lead as a kill from senior
Christina Franco (Lynbrook, N.Y.) put the Knights up 13-8 before the home side rallied using a 5-1 run to cut Queens' advantage down to 14-13.
A kill from rookie
Sophie Schonauer (Bakersfield, CA) would start a 7-3 run for the Knights as they took a 21-16 advantage. Four points away from taking a 1-0 match lead, Felician would take advantage of Knights' errors to cut the lead down to one, 22-21 before the duo of rookie
Madi Hathaway (Edmond, OK) and junior
Kendall Conrad (Carrolltown, PA) combined for two kills as Queens took the first set to the final score of 25-22 and a 1-0 match lead.
The second set would be a back-and-forth affair but despite the Knights hitting .265, seven total errors from Queens would see the home side tie the match at 1-1 as they earned the second set to the final score of 25-23.
With the match now tied, both teams began the third set trading the first six points before a 7-0 run led by a kill from senior
Alicia Cervera (Valencia, Spain) and three service aces from Schonauer put the Knights up 10-3.
Leading by six, 13-7, the rookie trio of Hathway, Schonauer, and
Jonaida Donowa (Porter, TX) put the Knights on another big run of 8-3 as they took a commanding lead of 21-10. The Golden Falcons attempted a comeback rally using a 7-2 run but kills from junior
Lindsay Osterhoudt (Orlando, FLA) and Franco would give the Knights a 2-1 match lead as Queens earned the third set to the final score of 25-18.
For the second straight set Queens took a quick lead of 5-2 as Felician committed five errors. But the home side would get within one, 8-7 before a 9-3 run from the Knights saw Queens take a commanding lead of 17-10.
With the Golden Falcons committing eight attacking errors and the Knights offense combing for 10 kills on 27 attempts Queens would earn their fifth straight victory to the final set score of 25-16 for a 3-1 match win.
BY THE NUMBERS
- It would be a career day for rookie Schonauer as she missed out on a near double-double recording nine kills, 14 digs, and three service aces.
- Osterhoudt notched eight kills on 13 total attacks for a scorching hitting % of .538 to go with two blocks.
- Hathaway recorded her second double-double of the year with 15 assists and 11 digs while notching seven kills on 14 total attacks for a hitting % of .429.
- Senior Despina Boudouris (Athens, Greece) recorded a match-high 18 assists to go with five digs.
- Rookie Olivia Hyman (Forest Hills, N.Y.) notched 10 digs, two assists and one kill on the evening.
- Junior Sarah Munn (Torrance, CA) recorded 13 digs and two assists in the match.
- Rookie Donowa notched five kills and two blocks in the match.
NEXT MATCH
The Knights open a four-match homestand as they host the Aline Pascale Lubin Invitational beginning on Friday, Sept 13 as they welcome Post University Eagles and East Stroudsburg University Warriors to Flushing. The first serve is set for 11:00 a.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).
