Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

QUEENS, N.Y. -- After a shaky beginning to the day with a 3-0 loss to Idaho State at the Kaiser Classic on Saturday, the Fairleigh Dickinson women's volleyball team bounced back with a 3-1 win over Northeast Conference foe Bryant to earn a split in the final day of the tournament.

The Knights (4-8) finished tied for third in the event with a 1-2 record including yesterday's 3-0 loss to St. John's.

Senior Meaghan Wheeler (Chatsworth, CA/Chaminade College Prep) was named to her third All-Tournament team of the season thanks to 41 kills and 34 digs over the three matches, including a 21-kill, 18-dig effort versus Bryant. The outside hitter took home All-Tournament accolades at the Hofstra Asics Invitational and Lafayette College Tournament earlier this season.

FDU's offense got off to a rocky start in the first match versus tournament champion Idaho State (6-3) with a -.037 hitting percentage in the opening set. The Knights trailed the Bengals by six at 9-3. FDU trimmed Idaho State's lead down to five at 17-12 on an ISU ball handling error. Two straight points on a Bengals' kill and an FDU attack error forced an FDU timeout.

In the rest of the first, the Knights picked up three more points on an ISU service error and kills by Wheeler and Maddie Gibbons (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview Heights). The Bengals' offense continued to thrive as they finished with a .407 hitting percentage and finished with a 25-15 win for a 1-0 advantage.

The Knights were able to keep the score closer in the second set, which featured five ties and two lead changes. One of the ties came early on when FDU leveled the score at 3-3 on freshman Allison Butler (Plano, Texas/Plano)'s 12th ace of her rookie season. Trailing 15-14, FDU tied the score with a kill by Jordon Collis (Frisco, TX/Frisco) and took the lead on another by Wheeler.

Momentum swung back and forth as the teams exchanged kills. Wheeler's sixth kill of the set helped trim the Bengals' advantage to just one at 20-19, but that was as close as FDU would get. ISU managed the final five points to close out the second with a 25-19 win.

The third set consisted of more highly contested action. FDU grabbed at 10-8 lead, but it quickly evaporated as the Bengals strung together eight of the next 11 points for a 16-13 lead. ISU kept the Knights from retaking the lead and won the final set, 25-19.

Idaho State's Breanna Van Early led all players with 14 kills and chipped in with 10 digs, as the Bengals also received double-digit digs from Alydia Fields (12) and Kylee Searle (11). ISU's Lori Mendenhall, who was named Tournament MVP, passed out 38 assists.

 For FDU in the first match, Wheeler provided the offensive punch with a team-high 11 kills and also had a team-best eight digs. Sophomore Hanifa Addi (Springdale, Md./Charles H. Flowers) picked up three block assists in the match.
 
The Knights, who will face Bryant (4-7) two more times this season, dropped the first set to the Bulldogs, 25-22, in the second match. The match between the two NEC rivals will not count toward conference standings.

Bryant looked like it was on its way to taking a commanding 2-0 lead with a 14-13 advantage. FDU was able to tie up the score at 14-14 with a kill by Wheeler. The kill started a rally for the Knights that helped them pick up nine of the next 10 points with all but one coming off Bryant errors.

With FDU in front 23-15, it was the Bulldogs' turn to make a run as they scored six of seven points to trim the Knights' lead to just three at 24-21.  Gibbons was able to finish the set with one of her eight kills to help FDU to a 25-21 second set win.

The third set could have gone either way with seven ties and two lead changes. FDU had the biggest run of the set, turning a 7-7 tie into a 12-7 advantage with kills from Collis and Wheeler.

The Knights led by as many as nine points on three occasions and eventually took the set, 25-17, on another Wheeler kill to give FDU a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth, FDU's hot play continued as the Knights took a 16-7 advantage. The Knights were able to cruise for the rest of the match to come away with a 25-17 win in the fourth.

Addi recorded a career-high three solo blocks versus Bryant, and Butler was two digs away from a double-double with 39 assists and eight digs.

The Knights will have a break from competition before returning to action for their 2012 home opener versus NJIT on Wednesday, Sept. 19, at Stratis Arena in Hackensack, N.J. at 6 p.m
.