Fifth-seeded Saint Francis (PA) came back from two games behind to defeat No. 4 Fairleigh Dickinson, 3-2 (17-30, 18-30, 30-28, 30-23, 15-12) in the first match of the 2007 Northeast Conference Championship.
Freshman Lindsay Molloy led Saint Francis with 14 kills, while sophomore Ali Philbrick (/Elizabeth Seton) (Lanham, MD/Elizabeth Seton) and junior Lauren Boothby (/Voorhees) (Glen Gardner, NJ/Voorhees) each tallied a match-high 15 kills for Fairleigh Dickinson. The Red Flash's Shirley Miller turned in a match-high 19 digs and junior Karolina Kowalsky (North Arlington, NJ/North Arlington) led five Knights with double-figure digs with 15.
The Red Flash prevailed despite hitting just .097 for the match, while the Knights hit .206.
With the score tied 9-9 in the first game, Fairleigh Dickinson went on a 10-2 run to build an eight point cushion. From there, the Knights held off any Saint Francis attempt at a comeback en route to a 30-17 win. The second stanza got off to a tight start, but Fairleigh Dickinson stretched out an 18-12 lead. Once again the Knights kept the Red Flash at bay, expanding the lead to 10 points. Fairleigh Dickinson scored the last eight points to take a two games to none lead with a 30-18 win.
The Knights kept the pedal down in the third game, scoring 10 of the first 13 points to put Saint Francis in a seven-point hole. Saint Francis used a 7-0 run to turn the tables and take a 25-23 lead. The Red Flash hung on to win, 30-28, and force a fourth frame.
The fourth game was closely contested from the outset, with the teams trading points. Saint Francis took a two point lead at 20-18 and would later stretch it to five points at 25-20. FDU scored three straight points to exert some pressure on the Red Flash, but Saint Francis responded with five straight points of its own to force a fifth game with a 30-23 win.
The Red Flash scored the first five points of the deciding game before Fairleigh Dickinson finally broke serve. The Knights struck for two points before Saint Francis rattled off two quick points of its own. FDU rallied back to within a point at 8-7, but the Red Flash responded with back-to-back points to force the Knights into a timeout. After the teams traded points, FDU scored twice to cut its deficit to a point at 11-10. The teams traded points once again before the Knights tied the game at 12-12.
Molloy scored back-to-back kills for the Red Flash, setting them up for match point. Kayla Greenwalt registered a kill to give Saint Francis a dramatic win.
Saint Francis will take on top-seeded Long Island later today. First serve is slated for 4:00 p.m.
