FLUSHING, N.Y. – A four-match homestand opened Saturday as the Queens College women's volleyball team welcomed 2023 East Region Champions Bentley University Falcons and out-of-region foe Lewis University Flyers of the GLVC for a Tri-Match inside Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
In match one against the Bentley, the Knights opened each set on a slow start and were unable to recover as they fell in three sets for the first time this year.
While in match two of the afternoon for Queens against Lewis, the Knights would rally against the Flyers but ultimately fell in four sets to conclude week three of the season.
With the loss, the Knights move to 7-5 overall on the year.
MATCH ONE RECAP vs. Bentley (L, 0-3 | Set Scores: 22-25, 13-25, 14-25)
Early errors would hurt the Knights as they quickly fell behind 12-4. Queens would slowly attempt to get into a rhythm as they went on a 3-1 run but another 4-1 run by the Falcons saw them take a 17-8 advantage.
Queens would attempt a comeback as they went on a 6-1 run to get within five, 19-14, but with the Falcons continuing to find the gaps they would take a 22-15 lead.
A kill from
Christina Franco (Lynbrook, N.Y.) started a 6-2 stretch as the Knights found themselves within two of tying the first set, 23-21, but the Falcons would earn the final two points to take a 1-0 match lead to the first set score of 25-22.
The second set would see the Knights battle through the first 20 points as they trailed 11-9 but errors would hurt the home side as Falcons took a commanding lead of 2-0 with a 25-13 second set victory.
Combined with attacking errors and the Falcons hitting .588 with 11 kills, the visitors would complete the sweep Saturday morning to the score of 3-0.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Rookie Madi Hathaway (Edmond, OK) recorded a team-high seven kills to go with four assists, one service ace, and one block.
- Junior Kendall Conrad (Carrolltown, PA) and senior Alicia Cervera (Valencia, Spain) combined for seven kills, three digs and one block.
- Junior Sarah Munn (Torrance, CA) notched 14 digs, three assists and one service ace.
MATCH TWO RECAP vs. Lewis (L, 1-3 | Set Scores: 21-25, 20-25, 25-21, 17-25)
Matching up against the Flyers for the first time in program history, Queens jumped out to a 6-3 advantage led by two kills and a block from Conrad. But the visitors would respond with a 7-4 run as they took a 10-7 lead.
Queens would continue to stay close as they were able to get within one, 13-12 behind another kill from Conrad.
But errors would hurt the Knights as the Flyers extended their lead to 20-15 before closing out the set with a 25-21 victory and taking a 1-0 match lead.
For the second straight set Queens jumped out to a 5-1 lead before the visitors answered back to take a 10-9 advantage.
As the Knights stayed with one of tying the second set score, with the Flyers leading 17-16, a 5-3 run saw Lewis take a 22-19 lead. Despite a kill from Cervera to get Queens within one, 22-20, Lewis would take a commanding match lead of 2-0 with a 25-20 second set victory.
In the third set, the combination of Hathaway, junior
Lindsay Osterhoudt (Orlando, FLA), rookie
Jonaida Donowa (Porter, TX), and Conrad combined to give the Knights an early lead of 6-3 lead.
But as the Flyers cut Queens' advantage down to one, 7-6, a kill from Franco would start an 8-3 run for the Knight as they took a commanding lead of 15-9 and never looked back.
Lewis would crawl back to cut Queens' advantage down to one point, 22-21 but back-to-back kills from rookie Hathaway and to go with a visitors' attacking error would see the Knights capture the third set to the score of 25-21 and cut their deficit down to one, 2-1.
It would be another close set in the fourth as Queens made several runs to try and get ahead of the Flyers. But with the visitors leading 15-14 a service error would see Lewis run away with the set and the match as they defeated the Knights 25-17 and took the first ever meeting to the final score of 3-1 Saturday afternoon.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Rookie Hathaway paced the Knights' offense recording her fifth double-double of the year with a match-high 11 kills and 15 assists to go with seven digs and three blocks.
- Osterhoudt notched nine kills on a hitting % of .571 to go with three blocks.
- Conrad recorded nine kills, three digs, and three blocks.
- Donowa notched eight kills, two digs, and three blocks in the match.
- Senior Despina Boudouris (Athens, Greece) recorded a match-high 25 assists to go with seven digs and two kills.
- Junior Sarah Munn (Torrance, CA) notched a match-high 18 digs, five assists and one service ace.
NEXT MATCH
The Knights continue non-conference play and their homestand on Wednesday, Sept. 25 as they welcome the Tigers of Holy Family University to town. The first serve is set for 5:00 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).
