MACOMB, Ill. – The Fairleigh Dickinson volleyball team dropped a tightly-contest season-opening match to Tennessee Tech, falling 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 23-25, 28-30) on Friday afternoon.
 
The Knights (0-1) and Golden Eagles (1-0) kicked off the Hampton Inn Leatherneck Invitational with a compelling match, which saw all four sets decided by two points.
 
Junior outside hitter Erika Sullivan paced the Knights in defeat by amassing a career-high 16 kills and 14 digs in the four-set contest.  
 
Making her collegiate debut, freshman setter Corina Beimers dished out a team-best 19 assists, while splitting setting duties with sophomore Allison Koester, who handed out 15 helpers of her own. Beimers also tallied a double-double with 11 digs in the loss.
 
The duo of junior middle Rachel Thomas and freshman Erica Grant combined for 35 of the Golden Eagles' 59 kills in the victory. Teammate Taylor Dorsey also logged double-digit kills with 10, while senior setter Susie Jeziorowski racked up 50 assists in the match.
 
The season began with a strong performance for the Knights in set number one. After trailing by as many as six tallies (14-8), the Knights showed early-season resilience by fighting back to earn the win.
 
Sophomore Nataliya Rybakova would give the Knights their first lead of the campaign, 19-18, by hammering home an assist from first-year libero Jaelyn Young and a service error by the Golden Eagles resulted in the final point of the set as the Knights captured a 1-0 lead.

With the Burgundy & Blue leading 10-9 in the second set, the Golden Eagles countered with six-straight points aided by a pair of aces from Jeziorowski to take a 14-10 lead. Following a timeout by head coach Andrea Nolan, the Knights netted back-to-back points, however, the Golden Eagles quelled the momentum and ultimately evened the contest at 1-1.
 
An ace and a pair of kills by freshman Kati Quaintance helped the Knights jump out to a 14-10 lead in the third set before the Golden Eagles made their comeback. A 5-1 spurt quickly leveled the game and the teams would trade points en route to a 20-20 tie. With libero Kirsten Brugere serving, the Golden Eagles would pull away with four straight points and eventually secure a 2-1 edge in the match.
 
The Knights dug themselves a deep hole in the final set but showed tremendous toughness to battle back. Facing a 20-10 deficit, the Knights recorded 15 of the next 20 tallies.
 
Quaintance sparked the run with a pair of aces and the Knights would eventually gain a pair of set points at 26-25 and 27-26 thanks to kills by Sullivan, however, the Golden Eagles' leader, Thomas scored back-to-back points to close out the match 30-28.
 
In the loss, the Knights totaled 10 blocks compared to three by the Golden Eagles. Freshman Brooke Stevens led the charge with five block assists, while Quaintance logged four for FDU.
 
The Knights return to the court tonight at 8:00 p.m. (EST) when they take on the host Leathernecks.