STORRS, Conn.- The FDU Knights (2-7) played in their first match of the East Coast Challenge, taking on New Hampshire (7-1). The Knights fell in four sets after taking an extended first set. Today was the first of two games the Knights will play at the tournament, taking on the host team UConn, tomorrow evening.
Following a New Hampshire attacking error, the first kill from FDU came from Kiah Lopez, followed by a solo block from Angela Marchetto. The Knights took a quick 3-1 advantage. After surrendering a lone point, the Knights scored four more points, with two coming off errors, one from Lopez, and the final kill being a service ace from Maddie Joyce. FDU led 7-2.
New Hampshire fought back to keep the score close, battling to an 11-7 FDU lead. However, miscues from the Wildcats kept FDU ahead. Already leading 15-12, the Knights landed three more points, which included another Joyce ace to extend the lead to 18-12.
New Hampshire fought back to tie the contest at 24 each way. The teams exchanged two point rallies before New Hampshire reached a 30-29 lead. From there, FDU completed the set, with a kill from Mila Samardzija and two more points coming late to give the Knights the first set 32-30.
Following the extended first stanza of play, New Hampshire jumped out to a 6-1 lead. FDU's first kill came from Angela Marchetto. A pair of kills from Ava Deguzman kept the Knights within four, 8-4. FDU continued to play tight in the early going, with Samardzija, Lopez, and Marchetto stringing together kills to make the score 11-7.
The Wildcats began to find their footing, playing out to a 17-9 lead. FDU continued to battle, with Lopez and Deguzman playing roles on a four-point-run for FDU to close the gap to 17-13.
The last push of the set for FDU came on the heels of a three point run, with a kill from Lopez, a block from Marchetto and an ace from Samardzija cutting the deficit to just two, 22-20. The Wildcats scored three of the final four points of the set to win 25-21.
The Knights had a strong stretch of points early in the set, with a Deguzman kill starting a five-point-run to give the Knights a 6-3 lead. Following a point for the Wildcats, a kill and an ace from Lopez kept the Knights ahead, 8-4.
New Hampshire used a quartet of points to go ahead of FDU, 13-11. The Knights responded in kind, with a kill and ace from Samardzija alongside a Marchetto kill putting the Knights back on top, 14-13.
A late seven-point-run put the Wildcats ahead for good, leading 21-15. A pair of kills came from Deguzman and Nina Jasiecka, but were not enough to close the gap as the FDU fell in the third set, 25-18.
The Knights once again harnessed an early lead, with a Marchetto kill and a pair of errors giving them a 3-1 lead. An early nine-point-run from New Hampshire proved decisive, as they took a controlling 12-4 lead over the Knights.
FDU tried to battle back late, with kills coming once again from Samardzija, Lopez, and Deguzman, as the deficit proved too great for FDU. The Knights fell in the final set, 25-13.
The Knights spend one more day in Storrs, playing UConn tomorrow at 5 p.m. The contest will stream on UConn+
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