NEW HAVEN, CONN. – The Queens College women's volleyball team opened the new year with four matches in two days inside Pelz Gym hosted by the Southern Connecticut State University Owls.
On Friday evening for the season opener, the Knights matched up against the Goldey-Beacom College Lightning. After dropping the first set, Queens battled back to earn a 3-1 set victory over the Lightning. In the nightcap, Queens matched up against a tough University of Bridgeport Purple Knights side in a battle of the Knights. It would be a back-and-forth five-setter affair against the Purple Knights but Queens would end the first day in New Haven with a 2-0 record as they earned a 3-2 victory.
On day two in New Haven Queens opened the day earning their first sweep of the year as they defeated host Southern Connecticut State University Owls to the final score of 3-0. In their final match of the weekend, the Knights matched up against the Eagles of Post University. The Knights would take the first set before the Eagles took a 2-1 match advantage before Queens dug deep to earn their second five-set victory of the year with a 3-2 victory over Post.
For the first time under fifth-year head coach
Stefan Leger, the Knights begin the season with a 4-0 record. It is also the first 4-0 start to the season since the 2014 season.
Coach Stefan Leger's Quote on the 4-0 Start:
"I'm excited to have started this season by winning all four matches. Whenever a season begins, there are questions about a team's ability to execute game plans and adapt to opposition teams doing things we haven't yet worked on in practice, but this team has eased many of my concerns by the way they carried themselves in these difficult matchups. Each opponent had various ways to hurt us and we were able to withstand the tests from them all. I loved seeing the resilience to win two five-set matches in two days. The way this group of athletes has gelled so quickly and been able to convert the instructions from the coaching staff before turning around and dominating plays has been a pleasure to watch. While there is plenty to work on, I am positive this squad will rise to every challenge ahead."
MATCH ONE RECAP vs. Goldey-Beacom (W, 3-1 | Set Scores: 17-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-17)
In their first-ever match-up against the Lightning, Queens got off to a strong start taking a quick 7-3 lead. But the Lightning would battle back with a 9-5 run to tie the set at 12-12. With the first set tied at 15-15, it would be Goldey-Beacom who earned the first set victory of 25-17 to take a 1-0 lead.
The second set would be another back-and-forth affair but with the Knights trailing 14-11, rookie
Madi Hathaway (Edmond, OK) would begin the fightback as Queens went on a 9-3 run to take a 20-17 second set lead. But the Lightning battled back to take a 21-20 lead before Queens took advantage of errors to tie the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 second set victory.
The third set saw six ties and four lead changes but with the Knights rookie duo of Hathaway and
Jonaida Donowa (Porter, TX) combining for eight kills, Queens would take a 2-1 match lead with a 25-23 third set victory.
Now in full rhythm, it would be an all-round effort in the fourth set as Queens outhit Goldey-Beacom .239 to .186 as the offense recorded 16 kills led by Hathaway and
Alicia Cervera (Valencia, Spain) combining for nine kills. The Knights opened the set on a 14-5 run and never looked back as they earned a fourth set victory to the final score of 25-17 and earned a 3-1 match victory.
MATCH TWO RECAP vs. Bridgeport (W, 3-2 | Set Scores: 25-22, 14-25, 25-23, 23-25, 15-6)
Playing just 40 minutes later, the Knights matched up against a tough Bridgeport side. The first set saw nine ties and four lead changes as both sides traded small runs. With the Knights trailing 19-17, the duo of junior
Kendall Conrad (Carrolltown, PA) and Hathaway combined for four kills in the run of 8-3 to take the first set to the score of 25-22.
It would be all Purple Knights in the second set as Queens dropped the set to the score of 25-14 as they were held to a hitting % of .059 compared to Bridgeport's % of .186.
The third set saw Queens take a 9-3 lead behind the trio of senior
Christina Franco (Lynbrook, N.Y.), Conrad and Hathaway combining for six kills. Despite a late rally from the Purple Knights Queens would dig deep to take a 2-1 match lead with a 25-23 third set victory.
The fourth set would see seven ties and two lead changes but with Queens committing nine attacking errors the Purple Knights forced the deciding fifth set with a 25-23 fourth set victory.
With the match tied at 2-2, rookie Hathaway would take matters into her own hands as the Oklahoma native recorded three kills as Queens jumped out to a 7-1 lead. Bridgeport would cut the lead down to 11-6 before a kill from Franco and three straight service aces from senior
Despina Boudouris (Athens, Greece) sealed the match for Queens as the Knights took the fifth set to the score of 15-6 and earned a 3-2 match victory.
With the victory, the Knights ended a nine-match losing streak against the Purple Knights earning their first victory since the 2016 season when Queens earned a 3-0 sweep in Flushing on October 27.
MATCH THREE RECAP vs. SCSU (W, 3-0 | Set Scores: 25-19, 25-15, 25-14)
Leger and his squad began Saturday afternoon against the host Owls and it would be an all-round showing as eight different Knights recorded a kill.
The first set saw six lead changes and four ties and with the Knights trailing 17-15, It would be the Knights who showed no signs of being tired from the previous night as they ended the first set on a 10-2 run to take a 1-0 match lead with a 25-19 first set victory
The Queens offense would erupt for a blistering hitting % of .364 with 13 kills with the rookie trio of Hathaway, Donowa, and
Sophie Schonauer (Bakersfield, CA) combining for seven kills. The Knights raced out to a quick 11-3 lead and never looked back as they took a 2-0 commanding match lead with a 25-15 second set victory.
Led by Conrad's five kills in the third set with a scorching hitting % of .571 Queens wasted no time taking a 12-3 lead en route to completing a 3-0 match sweep to a third set victory of 25-14.
With their 3-0 set victory over the Owls, the Knights ended another losing streak in back-to-back days as they earned their first victory over SCSU since the 2014 season when they earned a 3-1 victory on September 8 in New Haven.
MATCH FOUR RECAP vs. Post (W, 3-2 | Set Scores: 25-16, 14-25, 18-25, 25-12, 15-13)
Leger and his squad rounded the first weekend of play against the Eagles and it would take a five-setter to complete the 4-0 start to the year.
With Queens hitting .242 compared to Post .054 the Knights earned a 25-16 first set victory with junior
Lindsay Osterhoudt (Orlando, FLA) recording four kills on hitting % of .500.
Errors would hurt the Knights in the second and third set as the Eagles took a 2-1 match lead earning a 25-14 second set victory and a 25-18 third set victory.
In danger of dropping their first match of the year, Queens quickly shrugged off the previous two sets as the offense combined for 10 kills on a .241 hitting % to go with four service aces to earn a 25-12 fourth set victory and tie the match at 2-2.
With the match tied at 2-2, the deciding fifth set would see six ties and three lead changes.
Both sides began the decisive set trading points but with the set tied at 5-5, the Eagles took a 9-5 lead before a kill from Osterhoudt and a double block from the Orlando native and Hathaway brought them within two, 9-7.
However, three errors from the Knights would see them fall behind 12-10 before Queens took advantage of three errors from the Eagles and a kill from Donowa to take a 14-12 lead.
The Eagles would cut the Knights' lead to 14-13 before a kill from Cervera gave the Knights the match to the final score of 15-13 and completed the comeback victory to the final score of 3-2.
WEEKEND NUMBERS
- Rookie Hathaway led the way with a team-high 48 kills on .289 hitting %, 51 digs, 44 assists, and three service aces.
- The Edmond native recorded two triple-doubles and one double-double notching a career-high 18 kills on a .342 hitting % against Bridgeport, 18 assists against Goldey-Beacom, and 19 digs against Post.
- Conrad recorded 40 kills on a .148 hitting % and a team-high eight blocks.
- The junior notched a season-high 13 kills on a .212 hitting % against Bridgeport and four total blocks against Post.
- Franco recorded her first double-double of the year against Bridgeport with 12 kills and 14 digs to go with three service aces.
- The senior recorded a season-high 16 digs against Goldey-Beacom.
- Boudouris recorded a team-high 85 assists, and five service aces to go with 26 digs and one double-double.
- The senior notched a season-high 41 assists and three service aces.
- The setter also tied a career-high of four kills in the victory over Bridgeport.
- Junior Sarah Munn (Torrance, CA) recorded a team-high 73 digs to go with four service aces and a double-double.
- The junior notched a team-high 20 digs on two separate occasions.
- Munn recorded her first career double-double with a career-high 11 assists and 20 digs against Post.
- It was an excellent day two for Schonauer as the rookie recorded eight kills on two separate occasions and notched a career-high of 12 digs against Post.
- Rookie Donowa notched seven blocks and 24 kills with a career-high eight kills against the Lightning and three total blocks against the Eagles.
- Cervera notched 18 kills with a season-best of eight kills on a hitting % .364 against Goldey-Beacom.
NEXT GAME
The Knights conclude the season-opening road standing with a trip to Rutherford, N.J. on Tuesday, Sept. 10 as they match up against the Golden Falcons of Felician University. The first serve is set for 7:00 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).
