Madison, NJ (October 4) – The FDU-Florham volleyball team (9-8, 0-3 MAC FREE) came back from 0-2 set deficit to tie the match and go into the fifth set in its MAC Freedom matchup against Delaware Valley (8-6, 1-2 MAC FREE), but could not complete the full rally as they fell to the Aggies, 3-2 on Wednesday night.

Charlotte Fruscione (Mahwah, NJ) posted a career-high 35 digs in the contest and recorded four service aces. Rachel Reiter (Riverside, Calif.) led the team in kills (15) and blocks (3), followed by Gabbie Hart (Cherry Hill, NJ) who had 11 kills and two blocks. Arianna Wood (Wayne, NJ) tallied eight kills and 18 digs while Vanessa Freeman (Piscataway, NJ) had a career-high in digs with 25 on the night as well as five kills. Victoria Carrico (Mountainside, NJ) led the team in assists with 25.

Set 1: The Devils seemed to have the momentum coming out with four straight points, but a 10-1 run by the Aggies flipped the script in the set. FDU was never able to flip momentum back in their favor, with Delaware Valley matching two points for every point FDU scored up to an 18-10 lead for the Aggies. The Devils found a pair of points of their own from Reiter on a kill and an assist, but that was doubled by the Aggies who scored four for a 22-12 lead. DVU eventually held on for a 25-16 set one victory.

Set 2: Delaware Valley came out strong in the second set with leads of 5-1, 8-2 and 10-4. Fairleigh Dickinson stormed back though with six unanswered points including kills from Wood and Carrico to tie the contest at 10. A 9-4 run for the Aggies gave them a 19-13 lead but the Devils went on a 7-3 run to cut the lead to 22-20. An attack error gave a point to DVU but was answered with two points from FDU for a 23-22 Aggies lead. Delaware Valley closed out the set with two points for a 25-22 set two win and looked to sweep Fairleigh Dickinson in conference play.

Set 3: FDU came out strong to avoid the sweep with early leads of 5-1, 7-3 and 11-7. Delaware Valley tried to rally back with a kill and a service ace but Fairleigh Dickinson found three points with two kills from Hart and a kill from Freeman for a 14-9 edge. A 9-5 run cut the lead to just 19-18 in favor of the Devils but after a few exchanges in points, the Aggies found three straight and took their first lead of the set, 22-21. A kill from Hart and a service ace from Fruscione, flipped the lead back to the Devils, 23-22. Delaware Valley tied the contest with a kill, but an attack error and a kill from Reiter helped the Devils avoid the sweep and force a fourth set.

Set 4: Fairleigh Dickinson controlled the set early with leads of 5-1, 10-4 and 13-5. After a kill from the Aggies, The Devils on a six-point run that included kills from Freeman and Lilli Nawrotzki (Flemington, NJ). Delaware Valley inched their way back with a 6-1 run to make the score 20-12 FDU. The Devils set themselves up for a match point at the 24-14 score mark, but the Aggies were not going to go down easily. They scored four straight points, but an attack error gave the Devils the set 25-18 and brought the match tie into the fifth inning.

Set 5: The Aggies started off the set with five straight points before a service error shut down their run, 5-1. The Devils saw kills from Hart and Jada Everett (Hackensack, NJ) but their run got cut short on a kill from Grace Kane to help DVU jump out to a 6-3 lead. Every time Fairleigh Dickinson tried to climb back into the set, Delaware Valley shut it down. The Aggies were able to fend off any rally FDU tried build and eventually took the set, 15-10 for the conference win.

FDU-Florham hits the road this weekend for their fourth tri-match of the season at Marywood College in Scranton, Pa. They square off with The Pacers first at 11:00 am before matching up with Hood College at 1:00 pm.

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