Box Score

Loretto, Pa. – With the game tied at one set apiece, the Fairleigh Dickinson women's volleyball team broke the third set wide after winning the first 14 of 17 points, 14-3. This would eventually lead them to a third set victory and go up two sets to one on the afternoon. Even though host Saint Francis U would rally back to win the fourth to force a deciding fifth set, they would fall short granting FDU its first victory in conference, 3-2 to improve to 1-3. The Red Flash now drops to 2-2 in the Northeast Conference.                                                                                                                                                                                      
 
FDU managed to keep a steady edge over SFU in the opening set even though the score remained close. The freshman, Rebecca Sabol (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman)'s late back to back kills brought on an SFU timeout. However out of the break with the score already at 24-23, a kill from the senior Maddie Gibbons (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview Heights) helped FDU escape and take the first set of the afternoon. Senior Allison Butler (Plano, Texas/Plano) tallied 12 digs this set and would go on to finish with 18.
 
Now in the second set, it was the Red Flash's turn to own that steady edge early but the Knights would not let up. Each team traded leads until a string of SFU kills broke open its lead to five, 17-12. A couple of sequences later the Knights put up a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to just two, 19-17.  A thread of kills behind SFU's Emily Marcinowski and Breanna Opera and an FDU miscue ultimately helped them take the set 25-20.
 
FDU controlled the third set from start to finish. The Knights owned a .500 third set hitting percentage to the Red Flash's -.03. Freshman Mary Bell (Lafayette, Co. /Monarch) assisted on the last three consecutive kills for Sabol and junior Carolina Laton to cap off the runaway set victory for the Knights, 25-11.
 
Saint Francis U came back in the competitive fourth set though FDU lead early. They would go on to win it 25-23 on a late 5-1 push.
 
Now in the fifth set, the Red Flash quickly gained control and at 6-2, forced a Knights' timeout.  Before today, the Knights were 2-3 in five-set matches while the Red Flash were 1-2. Out of the break, the Red Flash continued to lead though the Knights closed in on the gap to only be down two, 12-10. But from there, the Knights would not let up and assembled five consecutive kills to close out the set 15-12 on a 5-0 run. Four of those kills would come from Sabol and the other from Laton.
 
Sabol finished with a game-high 25 kills while Laton ended with 11 to go with four blocks. Freshman libero Savanna Wray (Peoria, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) gathered 19 digs while Carly O'Sullivan (Bogota, N.J./Bogota) and Corey Lostetter (Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) contributed 13 and 10 respectively. Butler tied for a game-high 45 assists.
 
FDU hits the road again-this time to visit the Colonials of Robert Morris in another conference matinee. The game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.