NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's volleyball team dropped a Northeast Conference match to Central Connecticut on Saturday afternoon by a score of 3-1.
 
The Knights came out to win the first set 25-16 before falling in the second set 25-19, the third set 25-15 and the fourth set 25-21.
 
The loss drops Fairleigh Dickinson to 2-19 overall and 1-4 in the NEC. The Blue Devils improve to 9-7 overall and have a perfect 4-0 record in conference play.
 
The Knights took an early 2-0 lead on two straight kills from Rebecca Sabol (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) to start things out. The Blue Devils kept things close, however, and nearly evened the score several times, but could only come within one point.
 
Fairleigh Dickinson started to pull away and took a 14-9 lead before CCSU called for a timeout to regroup. The Knights remained in the lead but CCSU was able to keep things close until the Knights scored four in a row to take a 22-15 lead. The Blue Devils would only score one more point and Fairleigh Dickinson finished out the set with three points in a row which included a block from Caroline Laton (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) and Abigail Strebig (Brookfield, Wisc./Brookfield Central).
 
Similar to the first set, the Knights came out to score the first two points of the second set on a CCSU service error and a Taylor Wyckoff (San Diego, Calif./Clairemont) kill. Fairleigh Dickinson built up a four-point, 13-9 lead before the Blue Devils mounted a comeback and tied things at 14. CCSU tied things up again at 17 and went on to score five straight points to grab a 22-17 advantage. A Knights' attacking error gave the Blue Devils their final point of the set.
 
The third set proved to be the hardest for the Knights, who fell behind from the start. Fairleigh Dickinson chipped away at the Blue Devils' lead but could not come within more than two points. CCSU broke open a lead after scoring three straight to take an 18-12 edge over the Knights. A Cassidy Stankowski ace and a pair of kills from Madelyn Kaprelyn and Brooke Schwab gave the Blue Devils the win in set three and forced a fourth set.
 
The fourth and final set was even right from the start. The Knights started with a kill from Sabol but the Blue Devils quickly answered back. The two teams exchanged points and the Knights finally took a lead on a Laton kill. The lead grew following a Laton and Strebig block and a Carly O'Sullivan (Bogota, N.J./Bogota) kill.
 
The Blue Devils eventually tied the set at nine and took a lead from there. A four point stretch gave CCSU a 17-10 lead and despite the ever-relentless Knights, held the lead until the end. The Blue Devils closed things out with a Morgan Woycik kill and block from Stankowski and Schwab.
 
Fairleigh Dickinson was outhit by the Blue Devils .281 to .210.
 
Sabol had 14 kills from the Knights and Kirstin Trabert (Corona, Calif./Norco) added 23 assists. Caroline Laton (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) had eight blocks and eight kills while Savanna Wray (Peoria, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) chipped in 17 digs.
 
Fairleigh Dickinson is back in action tomorrow at Bryant. The match is slated to start at 1 p.m.