EASTON, Pa. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on the road on Saturday to close out the Lafayette/Lehigh Tournament.
The Knights fell to both Providence and Lehigh by scores of 3-0.
In the first match of the day against the Friars of Providence, the Knights fell 25-12, 25-13 and 25-18.
The Knights and Friars traded points to start the first set and the match was tied at 4-4 until Providence started to slowly pull away. The Friars scored seven straight points to take an 11-4 lead over the Knights. Fairleigh Dickinson managed to close the gap to 18-12 but Providence went on to score seven points in a row to close out the first set.
In the second set, the Knights got on the board first but Providence scored five points in a row to take a 5-1 lead. The Friars continued to build a lead, eventually bringing the score to 13-4. The Knights went on a small, three-point run which included kills from
Annabel Reyes (Teaneck, N.J./Immaculate Heart Academy) and
Rebecca Sabol (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman), but the momentum was stopped when Providence answered with four points to take a commanding 22-9 lead. The Friars closed out the set after benefitting from a Knights' attacking error.
In the third set, things started out similarly to the second. The Knights put up a point first on a kill from
Erika Sullivan (Elk Grove, Calif./Pleasant Grove) before the Friars scored seven straight points to take a 7-1 lead. Providence continued to add to its lead, opening the gap to 19-5. The Knights responded by scoring five points in a row to cut the Friars' lead to 19-10. A few plays later, Fairleigh Dickinson built some momentum and scored seven straight points, cutting Providence's lead to 24-18. Despite the effort, the Friars capitalized on a service error to end the set and the match.
Caroline Laton (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon),
Rebecca Sabol (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) and
Erika Sullivan (Elk Grove, Calif./Pleasant Grove) each had four kills against the Friars. Kirsten Trabert finished with two blocks and 14 assists and
Carly O'Sullivan (Bogota, N.J./Bogota) added 15 digs to lead the Knights.
The Knights traveled to Lehigh for their second match of the day. Fairleigh Dickinson fell by scores of 25-20, 25-16 and 25-15.
In the first set, the Knights benefitted from several Lehigh errors to take a 3-1 lead early. The Mountain Hawks came back to tie the set at 5-5. Fairleigh Dickinson added three points in a row to take an 8-5 lead and held on to it until Lehigh eventually tied things up at 11-11. The Knights took another lead but the Mountain Hawks continued to battle and tied the game again at 17-17. Fairleigh Dickinson built a 20-17 lead before Lehigh called a timeout. The Mountain Hawks came out of the timeout and scored eight straight points to end the set.
In set number two, the Mountain Hawks tied things up at 3-3 and started to gain momentum, scoring the next four points. The teams traded points for the next few plays until Lehigh scored five points in a row, pushing the gap to 18-9. The Knights could not catch up after that and the Mountain Hawks eventually won the set on a kill from Emily Poole.
Lehigh continued its momentum into the third set. The Mountain Hawks scored the first point of the set and the Knights never took a lead. Lehigh had several small runs before scoring five points in a row to take a 13-5 lead. The Knights brought the score within six points but that is the closest the team would get. The Mountain Hawks closed things out with four points in a row, eventually winning on a Julia Pressly kill.
Rebecca Sabol (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) led Fairleigh Dickinson with six kills and one ace against Lehigh.
Caroline Laton (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) had seven blocks while Kirsten Trabert added 12 assists and
Carly O'Sullivan (Bogota, N.J./Bogota) had 11 digs. O'Sullivan was also named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Knights return to action on Wednesday at Quinnipiac. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m. Live stats as well as live video will be available.
