HACKENSACK, N.J. - FDU Women's volleyball (3-12, 1-0 NEC) downed the Mercyhurst Lakers (4-9, 0-1 NEC) in FDU's first match of conference play. FDU's first home sweep was helped by the Knights out-blocking the Lakers 7-4 and recording 9 service aces to Mercyhurst's 1.
Mercyhurst pulled ahead over FDU early with a 4-2 advantage.
Kiah Lopez and
Mila Samardzija went to work, with each recording a kill on a four-point run by the Knights to take a 6-2 lead. As the squads continued to an 8-8 stalemate,
Alessia Zampieri came alive, going up for a double block alongside
Mila Samardzija. Both players followed up the effort with kills of their own as the Knights pulled ahead once again, 11-8.
A decisive run came late in the set, with the Knights launching a seven-point stretch to take an 18-9 lead. Samardzija began the scoring with another kill before Kayla Green distributed four aces to help punctuate the run.
Leading 24-12, the Knights sacrificed five points to the Lakers. Lopez then stepped in to end the set, 25-12.
An attacking error by Mercyhurst tied the second set early, 5-5. A Samardzija ace then gave the Knights their first lead of the set.
The Lakers fought back to tie the set at 10-10. The Knights then took a four-point lead following two Mercyhurst attacking errors, an ace from Ava Deguzman, and a kill from Samardzija. The Knights remained on top for the duration of the set, with the final two points coming off kills from Isabella Scarfone and Deguzman.Â
The Knights kept their momentum up into the final set of action, with Lopez getting the Knights on the board first. Already ahead 4-2, the Knights capitalized on their advantage with a kill from Deguzman, two kills from Lopez, and an ace from Madeline Joyce helping extend the Knights' lead to 7-2.
The Lakers found momentum in the middle of the set, trimming the FDU lead to just four points, 14-10. Angela Marchetto stopped the scoring with a kill of her own, alongside another ace from Samardzija to give the Knights a 17-10 advantage.
A late five-point run put the Knights into match-point position. Four of the points came by way of errors by Mercyhurst, as FDU led 24-14. The Lakers had a final run before Samardzija dealt the final kill as the Knights won the final set 25-17.
The Knights are back in action tomorrow afternoon, with another match versus Mercyhurst at 1 p.m. The match will be streamed on NEC Front Row.
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