HACKENSACK, N.J. – FDU men's volleyball picked up their second win of the season earlier today with a four set victory over Roberts Wesleyan.
Defense proved to be essential as the Knights opened set one with four blocks in the first 10 points. A slower offensive performance allowed the Redhawks to stay within closing distance for a majority of the set. Tallying only eight kills with four errors, the Burgundy and Blue hit a lower .182 hitting clip. However, RWU struggled with errors, logging seven service errors and seven attacking blunders, allowing FDU to steadily cruise to a 25-18 set victory.
Opening set two with a slower start, the Knights struggled to find a defensive rhythm. Despite the defensive troubles, the Burgundy and Blue were hitting an impressive .429 with 12 kills and zero errors for their first 15 points. A scrappy and energetic Roberts Morris squad went toe to toe with the Knights, also hitting at a high clip of .302. The efficient offense was not enough to hold off a hot hitting FDU squad, as RWU dropped set two 29-31.
Set three saw a cooled down Knights squad, who struggled to find a consistent rhythm all set long. With a .179 hitting clip, four missed serves and five attacking errors, FDU could not take a lead past an early score of 5-5. RWU was able to overpower FDU for a 25-21 set victory to stay alive in the match.
Back-and-forth was the name of the game in set four, as both teams battled to take a lead. Tied at 18-18 the Knights surged ahead with help from senior
Artem Vetrov, and
Vinil Shah who both logged two kills to take the set and match 25-22.
The Knights were led by junior
Dylan McFadden who logged 18 kills, seven digs and one block on the night. Senior
Jose Angarita dished 43 assists and 13 digs for his first double-double of the season. Defensively FDU was led by senior
Grady Hoffman who tallied a season high 13 digs.
FDU will be back in action tomorrow (01/25) as the Knights face Roberts Wesleyan again for an afternoon match. First serve is set for 1 pm at the Bogota Savings Bank Center and will be streamed on NEC Front Row.
