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HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson women's volleyball team earned a split in its two matches on Saturday as the Knights beat Providence in the first match, 3-2, for their first win of the season before falling to Marist, 3-0, later in the day at the final day of the Hofstra Asics Invitational in Hempstead, N.Y.

Senior Meaghan Wheeler (Chatsworth, CA/Chaminade College Prep) led the Knights (1-3) with 35 kills on the day and 54 for the tournament to be named to the All-Tournament team.

After losing the first two sets in the first match to Providence (0-4), the Knights responded in a big way with 37 kills to just nine attack errors in the final three sets to pull off the come-from-behind 3-2 victory.

Against the Friars, Wheeler put on a dazzling display of two-way volleyball with a match-best 23 kills to go along with 26 digs.  For the outside hitter, it is the most digs she has had in a match since putting up 32 against Princeton on Sept. 4, 2010.

Freshman Allison Butler (Plano, Texas/Plano) turned in the first double-double of her young FDU career with 42 assists as well as 15 digs. Sophomore Deborah Hong (Rutherford, N.J./Rutherford) had a 27-dig performance, while a pair of freshmen, Jordon Collis (Frisco, TX/Frisco) and Maddie Gibbons (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview Heights) picked up 14 and 10 kills, respectively.

FDU played well early in the first set, taking a 7-5 lead on one of junior Taylor Roland-Buohl (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg)'s five kills in the match. Providence proved to be too much the rest of the set, however, and jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a 25-19 win.

In the second set against the Friars, FDU kept the scoring close, and trailed 12-10. From there, Providence caught fire and rattled off the next seven points with four of them coming on Colleen McCollom aces. The Knights' comeback attempt came up short as the Friars took a commanding 2-0 lead with a 25-18 second set win.

With their backs against the wall, the Knights fought back with the help of nine kills from Wheeler en route to a 25-22 win to trim Providence's lead to 2-1.

In the fourth, again needing a set win to keep the match alive, FDU took the lead at 2-1 on a Gibbons'  kill and never looked back. The Knights were able to extend their lead to five points at 13-8. Down the stretch, FDU was able to keep the Friars at bay and took the set, 25-22, to force a decisive fifth set.

In the final set, the Knights led from start to finish and handed Providence a 15-10 set loss and a 3-2 overall loss.

Later in the afternoon, FDU took on Marist (2-1). As a team, the Red Foxes put together a .384 hitting percentage with 51 kills. The Knights, on the other hand, could not get the offense going, hitting .138 and falling by scores of 25-15, 25-18, 25-18.

Marist led wire-to-wire in the first set, extending its lead to as much as 11 points at 20-9 before cruising into the second set.

The second set was tied seven times, including 16-16 when Gibbons picked up a kill to even the score. The Red Foxes were able to pull away, however, thanks to a 7-0 run to put the set out of reach. In the final set, FDU led 8-5 in the early going, but could not sustain the momentum and were eventually overtaken by Marist. For the Red Foxes, it was their second win of the season.

Marist was led by Grace Hill's 14 kills and Hanna Stoiberg's 17 assists, while Wheeler had 12 kills and Butler added 18 assists for the Burgundy and Blue.

The Knights will return to New Jersey to face Rider in Lawrenceville on Wednesday, Aug. 29 at 6 p.m.