Box Score NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - The Fairleigh Dickinson women's volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-13, 26-14, 25-17) to the Central Connecticut Blue Devils on Sunday afternoon on the road. With the loss, the Knights fall to 9-16 on the year and 2-8 in the Northeast Conference. The Blue Devils improve to 11-13 and 3-8 in conference play.
In the opening set, Central Connecticut set the pace on offense racking in 15 kills to the Knights' eight. At the 5-7 mark, the Blue Devils went on a 7-0 run to take a commanding lead. Blue Devils' Cassidy Stankowski totaled five kills on a perfect hitting clip leading her team to a first set victory.
The second set remained competitive between both clubs. The senior setter,
Allison Butler (Plano, Texas/Plano) distributed 15 second set assists to help lead the Knights' offensively. Senior
Maddie Gibbons (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview Heights) (5), junior
Caroline Laton (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) (4) and sophomore
Alex Lolland (Auburn, Calif./Del Oro) (3) landed kills to combat the Blue Devils' pressure. The score was tied five times this set including at 20-20. Central Connecticut's Heather Trueman added three late kills but it would be Stankowski's kill that would steal the second set from Knights and put them up 2-0 sets on the afternoon.
The third set started off on even footing much like the second. With the score knotted at 14 apiece, a Blue Devils' attack error and a service ace from sophomore
Carly O'Sullivan (Bogota, N.J./Bogota) put the Knights up two and forced the foe into a timeout. Out of the break, Central Connecticut would answer with an 11-1 run to ultimate close out the set, 25-17 and win the game.
Butler registered a game-high 27 assists. Lolland led FDU with nine kills while Gibbons and Laton landed eight and seven kills respectively. Freshman
Savanna Wray (Peoria, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) logged 11 digs and O'Sullivan added 10.
The Knights will return home to take on the Red Flash of Saint Francis University. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m.
