Box Score
HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson women's volleyball picked up its first home and Northeast Conference win of the season on Saturday with a 3-0 victory over visiting Quinnipiac at Stratis Arena.

The 3-0 score gave the Knights (5-9, 1-0 NEC) their first sweep of the year as the Bobcats (1-9, 0-1 NEC) have now dropped three straight matches. FDU dominated the stat sheet with a .407 hitting percentage and 44 kills to just nine attack errors en route to set wins of 25-14, 25-15 and 25-19.

Early in the first set, FDU's offense was off to a slow start before senior Meaghan Wheeler (Chatsworth, CA/Chaminade College Prep) recorded back-to-back kills to tie the score at 3-3. The score would be tied again at 5-5, 8-8 and 10-10 before FDU took a 12-10 advantage on a kill by freshman Allison Butler (Plano, Texas/Plano) and a Quinnipiac attack error, forcing the Bobcats to call a timeout.

Out of the break, the Knights reeled off eight of the next nine points to seize a commanding 20-11 edge. After another QU timeout, freshman Maddie Gibbons (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview Heights) added to the lead with one of her three first set kills. Gibbons finished with seven for the match.

Three late points was all the Bobcats would get as FDU took the first set 25-14.  The Knights were able to put together a .417 team hitting percentage in the set.

In the second, an ace by redshirt junior Violeta Slabakova (Shelby Township, Mich./Utica) gave the Knights a 5-1 lead. Later in the set, kills from Butler and Wheeler gave FDU a five-point edge at 7-2.

The home side's lead was back to five at 15-10 and later grew to seven points at 17-10 on a Quinnipiac attack error. The Knights reached the 20-point mark on a Jordon Collis (Frisco, TX/Frisco) kill to make it 20-13. Down the stretch, a Quinnipiac service error followed by a Wheeler kill gave FDU a 25-15 win in the second.

The momentum was with the Burgundy and Blue as the Knights capitalized on Quinnipiac mistakes and took a 3-0 advantage in the third.

The final set proved to be highly competitive as the Bobcats crawled back into the set and eventually tied the score at 12-12 until a 7-0 run by the Knights to extend their lead to 19-12.

The Bobcats hung around and trimmed  FDU's advantage to 23-19. FDU's veterans took over, however, with Wheeler picking up a kill and Slabakova ending the match with her fifth ace of the day.

The Knights outhit the Bobcats, .407-.218, in the match. Wheeler provided the offensive punch with a match-high 19 kills for FDU, while Butler dished out 34 assists and freshman Corey Lostetter (Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) picked up a career-best 12 digs.

Quinnipiac's Tanner Celestin had nine kills and Logan Riker added a team-best eight digs in the loss.

The Knights will look to make it two wins in a row when they take on Central Connecticut State in another NEC battle tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Stratis Arena.