FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Fairleigh Dickinson volleyball team played its first conference game on Friday night. The Knights fell to the Pioneers of Sacred Heart 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 21-25, 14-25).
The Knights (3-12) were led by Taylor Wyckoff who contributed 11 kills and 10 digs. McKenna Setterlund had a team-high 21 assists to pace the Knights. As a team, FDU had a total of four service aces.
In the first set, an even matchup throughout between both teams saw the Knights take advantag late. Tied at 18, Wyckoff started the rally with a service ace to give FDU the lead. Kills by Allison Koester and Erika Sullivan extended the lead and a successful Setterlund block gave the FDU the first set 25-21.
The second set saw the Knights jump out quickly with a 13-4 lead. FDU took advantage of mistakes made by the Pioneers to gain momentum. Sacred Heart quickly regained composure and began chopping away at the Knights lead. With the match tied at 20, Koester went on the attack to gain the point, followed by an O'Sullivan kill gave the Knights a 22-20 lead late. The Pioneers executed though to rally and take the second set 25-23.
Similar to the first two sets, the third set was no different. A tightly contested bout that went all the way until the end. Emma Liller got into the action for FDU to give contributions on the attack. Annabel Reyes gave the Knights an 18-17 lead with a kill of her own. The Pioneers then went on a run to retake the lead. Despite pressure from Wyckoff and O'Sullivan, Sacred Heart managed the damage to take the third set 25-21.
Needing a spark, the Knights began the fourth set feeling confident. Abigail Strebig and Reyes sparked the team early to give them a 5-3. However from there on out the Pioneers took control and despite a team effort, FDU could not overtake the Pioneers lead as Sacred Heart came away with the fourth set 25-14.
The Knights will return to action on Friday where they will travel to Loretto, Pennsylvania to take on Saint Francis in its second conference game. Match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.
