Brown 3, Fairleigh Dickinson 0
(25-18, 25-14, 37-35)

In their first match of the day, the Knights squared off against the Ivy League's Brown Bears (1-0), who were making their 2017 debut. The first set saw the teams trade points to a 3-3 tie before the Bears rattled off six-straight tallies and captured a 9-3 advantage.

Over the course of the run, the Bears' offense was on full display, notching four kills and an ace, including a pair of kills by Gabrielle Moriconi. The Knights would climb as close as two points (10-8) thanks to back-to-back kills by freshman Magdalena Maksimovic; however, the Bears kept a safe distance from that point on, en route to the 25-18 victory.

The second set also started tight as the teams were deadlocked at 5-5 in the early stages. Once again, the Bears caught fire with a scoring spurt, this time a 6-1 run, which provided them some breathing room.

Over that span, the Bears were aided by junior middle Courtney Palm's effective serving, which included a service ace. The Bears never looked back as they claimed the comfortable 11-point win.

The third set of the match was the most tightly contested of the three as the Knights rallied back from an early 5-2 deficit to tie things up at 6-6.

Tied at 24-24, a service error by the Bears gave the Knights set point. However, a kill by Moriconi tied the match at 25-25 and for the first time in this young season, the Knights found themselves past the 25-point plateau.

The Bears earned two match points but senior Taylor Wyckoff staved off both for the Knights with a pair of clutch kills to tie things at 27-27. The teams traded points with a kill coming from Erika Sullivan to keep the Knights alive at 29-29.

Annabel Reyes briefly put the Knights in front 31-30 with a kill, but the Bears answered back. Reyes delivered a service ace later in the set, and the Knights had set point (35-34) after Wyckoff and McKenna Setterlund teamed up for a block. But the Bears proved resilient once more as they recorded the final three points of the match including Jacqueline Jacobs' clinching kill.

The 72 combined points are the most in a set by the Knights since they were defeated 40-38 by Robert Morris back on October 25, 2014.

McKenna dished out 24 assists across the three sets, while Sullivan led the way with nine kills and senior libero Carly O'Sullivan added 17 digs.
 

Holy Cross 3, Fairleigh Dickinson 0
(25-22, 25-16, 25-23)
In the second match, the Knights fell to the Holy Cross Crusaders of the Patriot League in three sets.

The freshman duo of McKenna Setterlund and Magdalena Maksimovic showed promise for Knights in the game. Setterlund dished out 15 assists and recorded seven digs. Makismovic and senior Carly O'Sullivan served out two aces each. O'Sullivan also had 15 digs, which was a team-high.

Senior Taylor Wyckoff paced the Knights offense with six kills while sophomore Emma Liller tallied five kills.

In the first frame, the Knights fell behind early but came fighting back with kills by Nataliya Rybakova and Maksimovic to bring the knights within fine, 16-11. McKenna Setterlund's ace cut the Knights deficit to three, 21-18. Fairleigh Dickinson pressured Holy Cross late but could not overtake the lead as the Crusaders took the first frame.

The second set saw the Crusaders ignite the action by scoring seven straight points to jump ahead. Fairleigh Dickinson battled throughout the frame with multiple kills by Emma Liller and an ace from O'Sullivan. With a 22-14 edge, Liller tried to spark the Knights with a kill to give Fairleigh Dickinson momentum however Holy Cross responded to take the second set.

The third frame saw a determined Fairleigh Dickinson squad as they countered all of the Crusaders' moves. Trailing early, the Knights rattled off four straight points after two aces from Maksimovic and an ace by Setterlund to even the game at seven.

A Wyckoff kill then gave the Knights a 10-9 lead. Throughout the set, the Knights and Crusaders battled back and forth exchanging point for point. Trailing by two points late in the frame, the Knights tallied back-to-back kills by Wyckoff and Liller to even the contest at 20.

After a Crusaders timeout, the Knights went on the attack as Jamie Rogers led the Knights to score the next two points to give Fairleigh Dickinson a 22-20 lead. Holy Cross countered the Knights as they rallied to take four of the next five points to give the Crusaders the win in the third set.

The Knights will return to action tomorrow where they conclude their participation in the Holy Cross Invitational as they take on the Jaspers of Manhattan. The contest is scheduled to start at 3:35 p.m.