FLUSHING, N.Y. – Continuing non-conference play Saturday afternoon, the Queens College volleyball team welcomed the Owls of Southern Connecticut State University to Flushing for the first time since the 2017 season.
Led by season-high efforts from sophomore
Kendall Conrad (Carolltown, PA) and junior
Christina Franco (Lynbrook, N.Y.), the Knights were unable to end their seven-match losing skid to the Owls as Queens fell in four sets 3-1
(Set Scores: 15-25, 25-27, 25-23, 19-25) Saturday afternoon.
Match Nine Recap (Set Scores: 15-25, 25-27, 25-23, 19-25)
It would be a slow start to the match as Queens fell behind 11-5 before a 3-0 run helped the home side get within three, 11-8. But a 7-2 run from the Owls would see them extend their advantage to 18-10 as attacking errors would haunt the Knights comeback attempt as they fell 25-15 in the first set.
The second set would see 17 ties and eight lead changes as both teams combined for 33 kills and hit above .270.
With the Owls leading 8-6, junior
Alicia Cervera (Valencia, Spain) would record two kills in a 3-0 run for the Knights as they took a 9-8 lead.
But a 4-0 run by the visitors would see them retake the lead, 12-9 forcing a Queens timeout.
As the Owls took a 13-9 lead and looked to be running away with the second set, a kill from Cervera would help start a 7-2 run as the Knights reclaimed a lead of 16-15.
With both teams matching each other point for point, back-to-back kills from Conrad would put the Knights up 22-21 forcing an Owls timeout.
SCSU timeout would help the visitors break Queens momentum as they reclaimed a 23-22 lead, but Conrad would record two more kills as she tallied seven kills in the second set hitting .417 for a slim 24-23 lead.
However, the Owls would end the second set on a 4-1 run to take a 2-0 match lead with a 27-25 second set victory.
Looking to regroup quickly, Franco and Conrad led the Knights on a quickfire 5-0 run to start the third set. But the Owls would use a 6-1 run to tie the third set at 6-6 before the Knights used an Owls service error to their advantage to start a 9-3 run taking a 15-9 lead.
With the Knights leading 21-16, the visitors would comeback to tie the third set 22-22 before the junior duo of Franco and
Despina Boudouris (Athens, Greece) combined for three kills to earn a 25-23 third set victory as the home side forced a fourth set.
As Queens looked to force a deciding fifth set for the third match in a row, the duo of Franco and Conrad would give Queens an early lead of 2-1 and a kill from Cervera tied the fourth set at 3-3.
But an 18-7 run by SCSU would see them take a 21-10 advantage as the visitors took command of the fourth set.
Queens would use a 9-2 run as they were able to get their deficit down to 23-19, but the early deficit would prove too much as the Knights were unable to complete the comeback as the Owls earned a 25-19 fourth set victory to defeat Queens to the final score of 3-1 Saturday afternoon.
Match Highlights
- Conrad recorded her third career double-double with a season-high 18 kills and 17 digs (career-high) to go with three service aces.
- Franco recorded her fourth straight double-double of the season with 15 kills and 18 digs.
- Cervera notched 11 kills to go with seven digs, while senior Alexis Deodat (Tampa Bay, FL) tallied six kills and a season-high six digs on the afternoon.
- Boudouris tallied her fourth straight 40-plus assist performance and ninth of her career with a match-high 41 assists to go with 14 digs and three kills.
- After matching her career-high 22 digs performance in three straight matches, Saturday's match would be a career day for sophomore Sarah Munn (Torrance, CA) as she recorded a career-best 24 digs and nine assists.
- Sophomore Elena Leung (Bellerose, N.Y.) made her season debut earning her first career start.
Next Match: Head Coach
Stefan Leger and the Knights now turn their attention to East Coast Conference play on Saturday (Sept. 23) afternoon as they welcome defending champions Wildcats of Daemen University to Flushing. First serve is set for noon.
Follow the Knights
All home games will be live-streamed on the
ECC Sports Network and fans can follow along on
live stats as well.
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).
