HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson volleyball team suffered a 3-0 (25-15, 28-26, 25-18) setback to Saint Francis U at the Rothman Center on Saturday evening.
Junior outside
Erika Sullivan led the Knights with 11 kills and four digs, while sophomore
Magdalena Maksimovic finished with 10 kills and nine digs in the loss.
For the Red Flash (4-16, 3-4 NEC), Nicole Adams, Sophia Esposito and Madi Tyus each amassed 14 kills. Tyus and Adams added 15 and 13 digs, respectively, to each finish with a double-double.
A service ace and kill by Tyus helped the Red Flash leap out to a 7-1 lead and cause Fairleigh Dickinson head coach
Andrea Nolan-Boyd to spend her first time out.
Following the break, the Knights responded with three straight points including a pair of kills by sophomore
Nataliya Rybakova. Rybakova would finish with seven kills on 25 attacks.
Leading 10-6, the Red Flash would score five of the next six points to establish a lead they would not relinquish.
The second set was the most tightly contested of the three. The Knights scored the first four points and led 13-12 at the halfway point after back-to-back kills from Sullivan and freshman
Kati Quaintance.
Two set points for the Knights were swiped away by Adams who kept her team alive with a pair of kills. Trailing 26-25, Sullivan temporarily kept the Knights alive with a kill before the Red Flash finished off the frame with kills by Alexis Lambert and Esposito.
After scoring the first two points of the final set, the Knights fell behind 9-5 with Esposito supplying a pair of kills for the Red Flash. Tyus' hitting helped balloon the lead to 15-7 for the Red Flash who held a comfortable cushion for the remainder of the set en route to the finish line.
In the loss, Fairleigh Dickinson setter
McKenna Setterlund handed out 28 assists – her second-highest total of the season.
The Knights are on the road for their next four matches beginning with a pair of NEC road tests next Friday, October 19 at LIU Brooklyn and Saturday, October 20 at St. Francis Brooklyn.
