OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (Oct. 14, 2014) - The LIU Post volleyball team closed out a six-match road trip Tuesday with a thrilling 3-2 win against East Coast Conference rival NYIT at Recreation Hall. The two squads traded victories in the first four sets, before the Pioneers pulled it out in the deciding game.

Though LIU Post (11-10, 6-3 ECC) dropped the opening set, 25-21, it rallied to take the second and even the match at 1-apiece. Tied 7-7, the Pioneers rolled off a 10-2 run to take a commanding 17-9 lead. Junior setter/outside hitter Monica Amador (Cedar Park, Texas) sparked the streak with a kill, off a feed from Analise Austin (Honolulu, Hawaii). Austin also served back-to-back aces. Additionally, the visitors capitalized on three attack errors by the Bears (9-13, 5-4 ECC).

NYIT clawed back however, and cut the deficit to as close as 18-17 on an Allison Fowler (Centennial, Colo.) ace. Yet, LIU Post held on, and managed to widen its cushion to 23-18 on consecutive service aces by junior libero Rachel Ringor (Honolulu, Hawaii). Ringor finished with a match-high five aces. A solo block by Austin on the hosts' Kate Brock (River Edge, N.J.) gave the green and gold a 25-21 second-set triumph.

The third set (19-25) would belong to the Bears, who hit at a .355 clip, but the ensuing game went the other way. The Pioneers rolled past their opposition, 25-16, to force a fifth and final set. Knotted at 6-6, LIU Post used a 12-2 run to boost itself out to a 19-8 advantage, and that was all it needed. Four more attacking miscues by the NYIT offense aided in the effort. Senior middle blocker Heather Adams (Centerville, Ohio) and junior middle hitter Melissa Hansen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) teamed up for two blocks.

In the fifth set, the green and gold held a slight 4-3 edge, until they tallied five of the next six points to extend the lead to 9-4. Austin provided two kills in that stretch. Graduate libero/outside hitter Katie Hudencial (Mechanicsville, Va.) and freshman middle blocker Heather Ball (Gilbert, Ariz.) added a kill each as well. 

Later in the game, NYIT fought back to close the gap to 10-8, but a 5-1 burst by LIU Post put the contest away. A bad set by Taylor Pulley (Bloomfield, Mo.) served as the clinching point for the Pioneers.

For the match, Austin registered a double-double (14 digs, 12 kills), to go along with a .320 hitting percentage. Ball amassed 10 kills and four blocks (one solo, three assist). Freshman outside hitter/middle blocker Danielle Valenza (Hauppauge, N.Y.) had nine kills, five digs and two blocks. Hansen chipped in six kills and five blocks. Amador dished out 21 assists, while totaling nine digs, three kills and three blocks. Ringor accrued a team-high 15 digs.

Head Coach Shellane Ogoshi and her LIU Post team are back in action Thursday (Oct. 16), when they host ECC foe Mercy at the Pratt Recreation Center in Brookville, N.Y. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.