HACKENSACK, N.J. – The FDU Knights earned their third consecutive win today, with a thrilling 3-2 victory over NEC opponent D'Youville. This was the second meeting between the teams this season, with the Knights having lost away in Buffalo 1-3 earlier this year.
The burgundy and blue had a hot start, as they put together a consecutive 2 set victory before losing the next two and taking the fifth in a dominating 15-7 victory. It was all offense for FDU as they hit an impressive .284 clip on the night, with 61 total kills on only 19 errors.
Set one saw a competitive start as the Saints were able to steadily score, matching the Knights point for point. Eventually, FDU was able to find a rhythm and go on a 7-3 run which gave enough of a lead that D'Youville could not comfortably catch up, allowing the Knights to win the set 25-23.
Building off the momentum from set number one,
Karl France's Knights slowly climbed out to a 14-9 lead in set two. Steady serving and aggressive offense assisted the burgundy and blue in riding their early lead to the end of the set, winning 25-18. The Saints were held to a .091 hitting percentage, with 6 errors on only 9 swings.
Sets three and four were all D'Youville as the Saint's found an offensive rhythm, hitting above .350 with an impressive 35 kills on the two sets. Despite a consistent hitting performance from FDU, a struggling defense was not able to respond to the hot hitting Saint's and the Knights lost both sets 22-25 and 21-25.
With a newfound confidence, the burgundy and blue came out aggressively in the fifth set, jumping to an early and commanding 11-3 lead. With seven kills and just one error, the Knights hit a whooping .500 clip, leading to the 15-7 set win and match victory.
Offensively, the Knights were paced by sophomore
Jamal Ellis Carballo, who had a season best 27 kills and just six errors for a hitting percentage of .447. His dominate performance on the night was able to push him past his 500
th career kill. He was complemented by junior
Jose Angarita who dished out a season best 51 assists.
Defensively, FDU was led by junior Grady Hoffman who tallied 14 digs on the night. Senior Santiago La Jara led the Knights in blocks, totaling five in the match.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Knights return to action tomorrow (03/30) to take on conference opponent Daemen for their last home match of the season. The burgundy and blue will also celebrate
Ethan Young for his senior day. First serve is set for 1 pm at the Bogota Savings Bank Center.
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@FDUKnightsMVB.
