NEW YORK, N.Y.- The FDU Knights (2-5) rounded out their weekend at the Big Apple Tournament. The Knights played two games, falling in the first matchup against Lafayette (3-2). In the second outing, the Knights collected their second win of the season after besting Iona (2-4) in three sets.
Ava Deguzman recorded a double-double in the Knights' win, logging 10 kills and 11 digs.
VS Lafayette:Â
After surrendering the first point, the Knights went on a five-point-run, which was headlined by consecutive kills from Mila Samardzija to put FDU ahead 5-1. The Knights held onto their lead through much of the first set. Angela Marchetto landed two kills to continue the Knights' lead, 11-7.Â
Lafayette kept eating away at the lead before passing the Knights 15-14. A double block from Marchetto and Alessia Zampieri kicked off a three point run for the Knights to retake the lead, 18-16. Two kills from Isabella Scarfone and a Maddie Joyce ace were the Knights' last efforts to hold onto the lead. The Knights gave up five of the final six points to lose 25-23
Lafayette jumped out to a 5-2 lead. Kiah Lopez and Scarfone accounted for three points to keep the knights within three, 9-6. Another three point run from the Knights was punctuated with a Kayla Green ace, putting the Knights within one, 10-9.Â
Lafayette held onto their lead through the remainder of the set, using a late four-point-run to separate from FDU. The Leopards held on to win the set 25-20.Â
The Leopards jumped out to a 10-3 lead over the Knights. FDU began to close the gap late in the set, finding a four point run with kills from Lopez, Nina Jasiecka, and Marchetto. With an ace from Maddie Joyce, the Knights narrowed the deficit to just four, 18-14.Â
The Knights rattled off another three-point-run, before Lafayette pulled away for good, taking the final set, 25-20.
VS Iona
Deguzman and Samardzija started the FDU scoring, with each player logging a kill to give FDU a 2-0 lead. After giving up a lone point, Zampieri dealt a kill of her own, with Madeline Joyce dealing a service ace to give the Knights a 6-1 edge over the Gales.Â
The Gales fought back, dwindling the Knights lead to 15-13. Zampieri and Deguzman helped the Knights reassert themselves with each player landing a kill alongside an Iona error to give the Knights an 18-13 lead.Â
After the Gales took a 21-20 lead late in the first set, Samardzija and Lopez tied the score with one kill each, before a pair of Knights blocks put FDU ahead for good, 24-22. A service error gave the first set to the Knights, 25-22.
The teams played an even set early, with an early 4-4 stalemate. Deguzman and Jaseicka dealt kills to give the Knights an early 6-4 lead.Â
Iona was able to equalize the contest at 14–14, before the Knights went on a five-point-run to retake their advantage. Jasiecka dished out two kills alongside two more attacking errors to give the Knights their 19-14 lead.  Â
Iona found momentum late in the set, bringing the Gales within a point, 24-23. Jasiecka gave the Knights the second set with another kill, finalizing a 25-23 result.
The Knights started fast, using a pair of kills from Deguzman to lead 4-3 in the early stages of the third set.Â
The Gales took an 8-6 lead, which the Knights quickly diminished by logging eight of the next nine points. Five of those points came from Samardzija, with an Isabella Scarfone ace punctuating the burst and giving the Knights a 14-9 lead.Â
Iona would tie the contest late, forcing a 17-17 stalemate. The Knights went on a four-point-run, which consisted of a kill and a block from Alessia Zampieri to give FDU a 21-17 lead. The Knights dished out the final Three points of the set, to complete the sweep and secure a 25-20 third set victory.
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- Ava Deguzman: 10 kills, 11 digs
- Mila Samardzija: 12 kills, 20 digs, 4 blocking assistsÂ
- Nina Jaisecka: 9 kills, 5 digs, 2 blocking assists
The Knights travel to the East Coast Challenge, hosted by UConn. Their first match is against Yale on Sep 10 at 5 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+Â Â Â
Connect with the Knights on Instagram and X @FDUKnightsWVB
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