NEWARK, DEL. – Looking to end the 2023 Wildcat Regional Invitational on a high note, the Queens College volleyball team matched up against host Wilmington University Wildcats and Thomas Jefferson University Rams at WU Athletic Complex for a Saturday doubleheader.
With an early start, the Knights matched up against the Wildcats in game one Saturday morning. Queens would take a 2-0 lead before the host forced a fourth set. But a strong performance in the fourth set would give the Knights a 3-1 victory.
While in game two, Queens matched up against the Rams and would need to rally as they earned a 3-2 five-set thrilling comeback victory to sweep the Regional Invitational.
Over the course of the weekend, head coach
Stefan Leger and the Knights ended three different losing streaks against their opponents as they improved their overall record to 6-1 on the season.
For the first time in 20 years, Queens are off to their best start when the Knights began the 2003 season with a 6-1 record.
Also, it is the best start under Leger's guidance in his four seasons in Flushing.
Match Six vs. Wilmington (Set Scores: 25-23, 25-21, 22-25, 25-15)
It would be a back-and-forth set to start the match which saw a total of nine ties and four lead changes. As both teams used separate runs to jump ahead and with the set tied at 8-8, the Wildcats would go on a 4-0 run to take a 12-8 lead.
Queens would rally back as junior
Christina Franco (Lynbrook, N.Y.) and sophomore
Kendall Conrad (Carolltown, PA) combined to put the Knights on an 8-3 run to take a 16-15 lead.
After the host tied the set at 16-16, junior
Debbie Boudouris (Athens, Greece), senior
Alexis Deodat (Tampa Bay, FL), and Conrad combined for four kills as the Knight took a commanding lead of 20-16.
The host would not go away without a fight as they tied the set at 23-23, but the duo of Franco and junior
Alicia Cervera (Valencia, Spain) would record back-to-back kills as the Knights earned a 25-23 first set to take a 1-0 lead.
Set two would see Queens take a commanding lead of 11-6 before the host trimmed the advantage down to 13-10.
But Queens would use an 8-5 run to put the second set away from the Wildcats as they earned a 25-21 second victory to take a 2-0 lead.
The third set would see seven ties and four lead changes. Tied at 11-11, Conrad would lead the Knights on a 3-1 run to take a 14-12 advantage.
But a 5-0 run Wildcats run would see them jump ahead 17-14 before Franco tallied four kills in the Knights 6-1 run to take a 20-18 lead.
However, the Wildcat would force a fourth set with a 7-2 run as they took the third set to the score of 25-22.
Leading 2-1 and looking to put the Wildcats away, Queens took a quick lead of 7-3. But Wilmington would continue to keep the fourth set close.
Leading 16-12, Conrad would take over notching two service aces to go with a kill as the Knights took a commanding lead of 21-12.
The Wildcats would go on a 3-1 run to cut the Knights advantage down to 22-15 before a host service error gave Queens the control they needed.
After an ace from Boudouris put the Knights at match point, Cervera would give the Knights a 25-15 fourth set victory as Queens took the match to the final score of 3-1.
With the victory, the Knights ended a two-match losing streak to the Wildcats and earned their second victory over their regional foe for the first time since the 2004 season.
Match Highlights
- Conrad tallied her second double-double of the year with a match-and-team-tying 14 kills to go with a career-high 15 digs and five service aces.
- Cervera notched a career-high 14 kills to go with a season-high nine digs.
- Franco recorded her first double-double of the year with a season-high of 13 kills and 19 digs.
- Deodat tallied a season-high 10 kills to go along with two blocks.
- Boudouris notched her third double-double of the year with a season-high 48 assists and 12 digs.
- For the sixth time in her career, Boudouris notched 40-plus assists in a match.
- While sophomore Sarah Munn (Torrance, CA) matched a career-high 22 digs to go with four assists and two service aces.
Match Seven vs. Jefferson (Set Scores: 25-21, 18-25, 17-25, 25-16, 15-12)
In their last match of the weekend and facing a 2-1 deficit, Queens saved the best for last for a five-set thrilling comeback victory over the Rams.
It would be a back-and-forth first set as it saw 12 ties and five lead changes.
Both sides matched each other for runs, but with the set tied at 17-17 a Rams service error would help start a 4-0 for Queens as sophomore
Lindsay Osterhoudt (Orlando, FL) led the way with a kill and a block assist to put the Knights up 21-17.
The Rams would trim the Knights advantage down to 23-21 before Conrad notched her third kill of the first for set point and the duo of Boudouris and Deodat would combine for a block assist as the Knights earned a 25-21 first set victory to take an early 1-0 lead.
It would all Rams in the second and third set of the match as their offense combined for 20 kills to take a 2-1 match lead.
Facing defeat and needing to force a fifth set for the first time on the season, it would be all Knights in the early going as they held a 10-6 lead to the start of the fourth set.
A 3-0 run by Jefferson would see them cut Queens lead down to 10-9 before the Knights went on an 8-2 run to take a commanding lead of 18-12.
Boudouris would tally 11 assists in the fourth set as the Knights offense combined for 15 kills hitting .256 compared to the Rams' seven kills for a .026 hitting performance to even the match at 2-2 with a commanding 25-16 fourth set victory.
Jefferson took a 2-0 lead to the start of the fifth set before the trio of Cervera, Conrad, and Deoat helped the Knights go on a 9-2 run to take a 9-4 lead.
With Queens leading 11-6 and looking to put the match away, Jefferson would tally a 5-2 run forcing Leger to take a timeout as their lead was cut down to 13-11.
Using the timeout to stop the momentum, Cevera and Osterhoudt would combine for a block to get to match point for a 14-11 advantage.
After a kill from the Rams extended the match at 14-12, Conrad notched her fourth kill of the set to give Queens a fifth set victory of 15-12 as the Knights earned a thrilling comeback 3-2 victory to end the invitational on a four-match win streak.
With the victory over the Rams, the Knights ended a two-match losing streak as they increased the series lead to 7-2.
Match Highlights
- For the first time this season five Knights recorded double-digit kills as they were led by a team-high 12 kills from Cervera and Osterhoudt (Career-High) to go with a combined three block assists.
- Conrad extended her double-digit kill streak to seven matches with 11 kills and five digs.
- Franco recorded her second straight double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs.
- Deodat matched a season-high 10 kills for the second straight match to go with three block assists.
- Boudouris notched her fourth double-double of the year with 47 assists and a season-high 15 digs.
- For the second straight match, Boudouris notched 40 plus assists and the seventh of her career.
- For the second straight match, Munn matched a career-high performance with 22 digs to go with four assists and two service aces.
- Sophomore Elizabeth Cerullo (Saint James, N.Y.) recorded two kills and a career-high nine digs.
Post Match Comment
Head Coach Stefan Leger: "Today we fought for two very tough wins. The combination of play from our defenders and attackers melded together to secure the wins. I was extremely impressed with the contributions across the lineup. The team togetherness allowed us to be resilient during a few short but tough stretches and facilitated our long runs of high-scoring and beautiful play. This team has an insatiable appetite for wins and we will try to continue to feed these beasts!"
Next Match: Head Coach
Stefan Leger and the Knights open a four-match homestand beginning on Tuesday (Sept. 12) evening as the Setters of Pace University come to town. First serve 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).
