HACKENSACK, N.J. – Freshman outside hitter Magdalena Maksimovic hammered a career-high 19 kills but the Fairleigh Dickinson volleyball team fell in four sets to Saint Francis U (22-25, 16-25, 25-16, 20-25) at the Rothman Center on Friday evening.
 
The Knights (5-19, 1-8 NEC) dropped the first two sets before a resounding nine-point win in the third set. But the Red Flash (12-11, 6-4 NEC) proved to be too much as they overcame the Knights in the fourth frame to take home the match.
 
Maksimovic's 19 kills are not only a personal high, but also the season-high for the Knights this season. The Serbian freshman committed only two attack errors on her 58 total attacks resulting in a .293 attack percentage. In addition, she added 17 digs to complete her third double-double of the campaign.
 
In the victory, the Red Flash were led by Emily Marcinowski, who matched Maksimovic with 19 kills and added 14 digs.
 
The first set was tied at 13-13 midway through before the Red Flash put together a 6-1 spurt. Three kills by Alexis Lambert sparked the run for the Red Flash, who saw the Knights eventually pull within one, 22-21, before Marcinowski helped finalize the win with two kills.
 
The Red Flash broke a 5-5 tie in the second set open with a 10-3 run and rolled to the nine-point win. The team logged their highest attack percentage of the match at .356.
 
Maksimovic pushed the Knights to an 8-3 lead in the third set. Sophomore Erika Sullivan served six points over that span for the home team.
 
The Knights pulled away and stretched their lead to 20-12 aided by a pair of kills from freshman Nataliya Rybakova. Rybakova finished with 13 kills on 44 attacks on the night.
 
Taylor Wyckoff had a service ace en route to three points as the Knights jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the fourth set.
 
The Red Flash rallied back and eventually moved in front by scoring 10 of the next 12 points to capture a 14-10 lead. With momentum on their side, the Red Flash pushed their lead to 17-11 before the Knights put forth a rally of their own.
 
Two kills by Maksimovic and one from senior Taylor Wyckoff helped the Knights claw to within two, 19-17. But the Red Flash would hold off the Knights thanks to a service ace from Kelsey Roush and a pair of kills from Marcinowski to close out the 25-20, match-clinching victory.
 
In the loss, freshman setter McKenna Setterlund handed out 39 assists for the Knights, while senior Carly O'Sullivan finished with a match-best 23 digs.
 
Saint Francis setter Lauren Williams totaled 51 assists and 12 digs to pace the Red Flash in the win.
 
The Knights are back in action tomorrow when they honor their two seniors – Wyckoff and O'Sullivan – at 4:00 p.m. against Robert Morris at the Rothman Center.