HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's volleyball team fell to La Salle 3-2 in its home opener in a five-set thriller.
 
The Knights dropped the first two sets but showed real fight to come back and tie the match 2-2 and force a fifth set. Despite the comeback in the last set, the Knights could not over take La Salle and lost the set and the match.
 
The Knights lost the first set 25-23 and the second set 25-22 before coming back to win the third set 25-23 and the fourth set 25-12. It was also a close fifth set as the Knights fell 15-13.
 
In the first match of the day, the Knights fell behind but started to chip away at the Explorers' lead. Despite the close play, Fairleigh Dickinson did not tie things up until it was 20-20. The Knights took a brief 23-22 lead on a La Salle service error but the Explorers score three points in a row to win the set.
 
The second showed the fight in the Knights as they were trailing by as many as seven points but came back to lose by just three points. Things were fairly close between the two teams and the Knights came within two points, 12-10, before the Explorers broke open a lead, which resulted in a score of 21-14 until Fairleigh Dickinson called a time out. The Knights came within two points, 24-22, but the Explorers benefitted from an attack error to win.
 
The two teams traded points in the third set but the Knights started to gain momentum and built a 15-10 lead. Fairleigh Dicksinon did not lose the lead the rest of the set, despite La Salle coming back to close the lead within one point. Fairleigh Dickinson won the set on two straight kills from Caroline Laton (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) and Rebecca Sabol (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman), to force a fourth set.
 
The fourth set proved to be the most dominant for the Knights, who won the set 25-12. Taylor Wyckoff (San Diego, Calif./Clairemont) led the Knights, hitting 71 percent. The set started out close but the Knights started to break things open after being tied 3-3. Fairleigh Dickinson scored six points in a row to build a 17-8 lead. The Knights went on to take a 12-point lead, 21-9. After several La Salle points, the Knights ended things with three straight points on kills from Erika Sullivan (Elk Grove, Calif./Pleasant Grove), Annabel Reyes (Teaneck, N.J./Immaculate Heart Academy) and Wyckoff.
 
La Salle came out strong in the fifth and final set, outscoring the Knights 7-1. Fairleigh Dickinson slowly started to chip away, and scored four straight points to cut the Explorers' lead to 10-7. The Knights eventually tied things 12-12 on a Sabol kill, which forced La Salle to call for a time out. The Knights again tied things 13-13 on a Laton kill but La Salle added two more points to end the set and the match.
 
Laton and Sabol each finished with 15 kills while Wyckoff added 13. Wyckoff also finished with 14 digs to record a double-double. Carly O'Sullivan (Bogota, N.J./Bogota) finished with 34 digs and Kirstin Trabert (Corona, Calif./Norco) finished with 46 assists for the Knights.
 
Fairleigh Dickinson is back in action on Friday at the Mercer University Tournament in Macon, Ga. The Knights open on Friday against the host team Mercer at 2:30 p.m. before playing USC-Upstate at 5 p.m. On Saturday, Fairleigh Dickinson takes on Towson at 10 a.m. All games will be available via live stats.