Volleyball's Win Streak Swept Away by Saint Rose, 3-0
Box Score BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Sept. 26, 2014) - Despite a career-high 23 digs from sophomore
Analise Austin (Honolulu, Hawaii), the LIU Post volleyball team saw its three-match win streak snapped by Saint Rose on Friday night at the Pratt Recreation Center. The Golden Knights took the contest in three sets by scores of 25-21, 25-18 and 25-22.
The Pioneers (8-7) traded points with their opponents in the first set and held a 10-9 lead at one point, but a bad set combined with four attack errors, a service ace from senior setter Ariana Wilson (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), and a kill from sophomore middle hitter Maryellen Devic (Orchard Park, N.Y.) gave the Golden Knights (7-3) a 15-10 cushion. The advantage was too much to overcome for LIU Post as it could not cut the deficit beyond three points. The green and gold were plagued by inconsistency in the first set, a theme that would continue throughout the evening. 13 total errors, including five bad attacks, would doom LIU Post to succumb to a first-set loss as a kill by Wilson capped the 25-21 stanza for Saint Rose.
The Pioneers would take the first two points of the second set on a service error and a kill by junior middle hitter
Melissa Hansen (Colorado Springs, Colo.). The visitors rallied back to level the game at 6-all before pulling away, leading at one point in the stanza, 17-9. LIU Post attempted to rally back, but it was not enough to complete a comeback. The green and gold commited 11 errors in the set, including a ball handling error on game point, propelling the visitors from Albany to a 25-18 win and a 2-0 lead in sets.
In the third and final set, the Pioneers took the first point on an attack error, but could not capitalize on the advantage. Saint Rose scored the next five points on a service error, two attacking errors and consecutive kills by junior outside hitter Kelsey Lace (Glendale, R.I.), before a kill by Hansen stopped the rally. LIU Post stayed in the match, however, as the green and gold put on a run of their own to take a 12-11 lead on an attack error. The two teams then swapped points until Devic struck two perfect kills to give Saint Rose the 16-15 edge. The home side would be unable to mount a charge, falling behind 24-20 on a kill by Lace. Hansen answered with a kill and a second successful attack from freshman
Danielle Valenza (Hauppauge, N.Y.) drew the green and gold to within two. It was not meant to be, however, as Devic's match-high 12th kill of the night proved to be the final point, giving Saint Rose the three-set sweep.
Hansen led the Pioneers with nine kills and five blocks in the losing effort, while freshman middle blocker
Heather Ball (Gilbert, Ariz.) turned in a nice game of her own, striking six kills and adding four digs. Senior setter
Lulu Centro (Rome, Italy) led the team with 14 assists, while junior libero
Rachel Ringor (Honolulu, Hawaii) collected 10 digs for the green and gold. As a team, LIU Post amassed 26 kills in 107 attempts, but 22 errors dropped their hitting percentage to .037.
Devic coupled her 12 kills with nine digs on the evening for Saint Rose. Lace added seven kills while junior Carissa Dube (Milford, Penn.) chipped in six kills. Setters Tori Daniels (South Hadley, Mass.) and Erica Ziskin (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) each dished out 16 assists. Wilson and Daniels led the team with 13 digs. Libero Katy Daniels (South Hadley, Mass.) collected 11 digs of her own for the Golden Knights.
Head Coach
Shellane Ogoshi and the Pioneers will look to avenge their loss on Tuesday (Sept. 30), when they go on the road to face ECC foe Bridgeport. First serve is set for 7 p.m.