NEWARK, DEL. – Continuing to stay on the road, the Queens College volleyball team traveled to Newark, Del to compete in the 2023 Wildcat Regional Invitational hosted by the Wilmington University Wildcats at WU Athletic Complex.
On day one of the Invitational, the Knights matched up against the Tigers of Holy Family University. In an all-round performance, the Knights took the first two sets before the Tigers battled to force a fourth set. But a blistering .323 hitting performance in the fourth set would help the Knights earn a 3-1 match
(Set Scores: 25-21, 25-19, 20-25, 25-19) victory to open the Invitational.
With the 3-1 victory, Queens improved their record to 4-1 on the season and ended a three-match losing streak to the Tigers as they earned their first victory since the 2007 season.
Match Five vs. Holy Family (Set Scores: 25-21, 25-19, 20-25, 25-19)
It would be a back-and-forth set to start the match which saw a total of nine ties and six lead changes. Tied at 15-15, back-to-back kills from sophomore
Kendall Conrad (Carolltown, PA) would give Queens a 17-15 lead forcing a Holy Family timeout.
Out of the timeout, junior
Alicia Cervera (Valencia, Spain) would start a 5-2 run as the Knights lead ballooned to 22-17. The Tigers would cut the knights advantage to 23-21 before Cervera notched back-to-back kills to give Queens a 1-0 match lead with a 25-21 first set victory.
The second set would have a similar start as it saw four ties and three lead changes. With the second set tied at 7-7, senior
Alexis Deodat (Tampa Bay, FL) and junior
Christina Franco (Lynbrook, N.Y.) would help Queens start a 3-0 run as the Knights took a 10-7 lead forcing a Tigers timeout.
Queens would continue to hold a three-point lead for the remainder of the second set, and with the Knights leading 20-17, a 5-2 run to end the second set would put Queens in a 2-0 commanding lead as they earned a 25-19 second set victory.
The third set would see Queens take two different leads as they led 10-2 and 16-9 but errors would be unkind to the Knights as the Tigers forced a fourth set with a 25-20 third set victory.
Looking to close out the match, the Knights came out of the break taking a quick lead of 5-1 before the Tigers responded to take a 10-9 lead forcing a Knights timeout.
Queens would use the timeout to break the Tigers' momentum as they went on a 5-1 run en route to taking a 14-11 lead. Holy Family would cut the lead down to one, 16-15 before Franco tallied back-to-back kills, and a service ace from Deodat put Queens up by three, 19-16.
The Knights would hit .323 in the fourth set to go with three blocks as Queens earned a 25-19 fourth set victory to defeat the Tigers to the final score of 3-1.
Match Highlights
- Conrad continues to lead the Knights offense as the sophomore tallied 12 kills, seven digs, a career-high four blocks assists, and two service aces in the victory.
- The junior duo of Cervera and Franco combined for 18 kills with Franco notching a mtach-and-season-high 18 digs and a season-high of nine kills.
- Deodat recorded four kills, and four block assists, and tied a career-high three service aces, while Lindsay Osterhoudt (Orlando, FL) tallied a six-kill performance to go with two block assists.
- Junior Debbie Boudouris (Athens, Greece) recorded her second double-double of the year with a match-high 28 assists and 10 digs.
- While sophomore Sarah Munn (Torrance, CA) notched a near double-double with 14 digs and eight assists.
- As a team, the Knights tied a season-best six blocks with 12 block assists.
Post Match Comment
Head Coach Stefan Leger: "I think we did a good job executing a few parts of our game plan better than others today but thankfully we stepped up enough across the board to compensate. With the amount of pressure Holy Family put on us, we did a great job of adapting to the challenge. Adding another win to the record is always a great thing and we look to grab another two tomorrow."
Next Match: Head Coach
Stefan Leger and the Knights conclude the 2023 Wildcat Regional Invitational with a Saturday (Sept. 9) doubleheader against host Wilmington University Wildcats and Thomas Jefferson University Rams. The Knights open up against the Wildcats at 9 am before matching up against the Rams at 4:30 pm.
For the latest news on Queens College Athletics, follow the Knights at queensknights.com or via social media on Facebook (Queens College Athletics), X (Formerly Twitter) (@QCKnights), and Instagram (qcknightsny), women's volleyball (qcknightsvb).
