Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

EASTON, Pa. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson women's volleyball team picked up a 3-2 win over Delaware State in the first match on Saturday and dropped the second by the same 3-2 margin to Lafayette at the Lafayette College Tournament. 

For FDU (3-5) senior Meaghan Wheeler (Chatsworth, CA/Chaminade College Prep),  on her 22nd kill in the Knights' second match versus Lafayette, she tied Lauren Boothby's FDU record with 1,506 career kills. She finished the day with two more to stand alone atop FDU's record book with 1,508 and counting. 

Wheeler racked up 69 kills and 61 digs, while freshman Jordon Collis (Frisco, TX/Frisco) finished with 46 kills and 12 digs over the three matches and were honored as All-Tournament team selections. 

In the first match of the day versus Delaware State (0-5), FDU dropped the first set by a score of 25-23 in what turned out to be the Hornets' best hitting set with a .324 percentage.

In the second, the Knights were able to return the favor with a 25-23 win of their own to even the score at one set apiece. FDU looked as if it had the set wrapped up with a late 23-18 lead. Five-straight points by the Hornets tied it up at 23-23 before FDU picked up back-to-back kills from sophomore Hanifa Addi (Springdale, Md./Charles H. Flowers) and Wheeler, who finished with a match-high 23.

Delaware State was able to regain the momentum with a 27-25 third set win to seize a 2-1 lead in the match.

Needing a strong fourth set to stay alive, FDU led by as many as eight points at 20-12. Three Delaware State points in a row made it 20-15, however, before the Knights were able to respond down the stretch with Wheeler, Collis and Taylor Roland-Buohl (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) kills for the 25-21 win.

In the deciding set, FDU come out strong and clung to a 10-5 lead. The Hornets were able to rally, but it proved to be too-little too-late as the Knights took the set 15-13 and the match 3-2.

In the match, Collis finished with 15 kills, while freshman Allison Butler (Plano, Texas/Plano) had a standout match with a career-high 52 assists and 10 digs for her third career double-double.

Delaware State was paced by Jessica Croucher-Russell's 21 kills and Jasmine Jackson's 12.
In the nightcap, FDU could not overcome Lafayette's (5-0) balanced attack of five players with at least seven kills, as the Knights fell 3-2.

It looked promising for the Burgundy and Blue early on with a 12-4 lead in the first set. Collis, who finished the match with a career-high 19 kills, accounted for four of the Knights' early points with kills. FDU maintained its distance in the first, winning the set by a 25-19 margin.

The Leopards clawed their way back into the match with a 25-21 to tie the score at 1-1. The third set was much of the same as Lafayette by the same 25-21 margin for a 2-1 lead.

Down 16-10 in the fourth set, the Knights came storming back with an 11-5 run to even it up at 21-21. FDU earned four of the final points in the set, culminating with two Collis kills for a 25-22 win to force a fifth set.

The Knights put themselves in position to win with a 12-10 lead in the fifth. FDU's lead slowly slipped away, however, as Lafayette won the set 15-13 for the victory.

Wheeler's 24 kills and 21 digs paced the Knights, while Kaitlynn Zoller led the Leopards with 13 kills.

The Knights are back in action on Tuesday, Sept. 4, versus Fordham in the Bronx, N.Y. at 7 p.m.