Madison, NJ (September 1) – The FDU-Florham volleyball team faced a 2-0 set deficit but were able to rise up and complete an improbable rally to take the next three sets to win their season-opening match against John Jay, 3-2 on Friday night.

Tonight's match was the first Devils Athletics contest to be played on the redesigned and renamed Roger Kindel Court.

The Devils were led by outside hitters Jada Everett (Hackansack, NJ) and Vanessa Freeman (Piscataway, NJ) who both notched eight kills apiece. Charlotte Fruscione (Mahwah, NJ) posted a career-high 21 digs in the contest while Victoria Carrico (Mountainside, NJ) and Gianna Buscarino (Centereach, NY) each collected double-digit assists with 17 and 11 on the night.

Set 1: The Bloodhounds controlled the earlier portion of the match having a 6-2 lead before three errors sparked the Devils back into the set. FDU came within a point at the 11-10 score mark but were never able to find that equalizer point in the set. John Jay went on a triplet of three-point rallies down the
stretch and took the first set, 25-19.

Set 2: John Jay came out hot in the second set, taking 5-0 and 7-1 leads early on. A kill by Carrico sparked a comeback sequence for the Devils who scored four-straight points to bring it to an 8-6 score. The Bloodhounds once again kept the Devils at bay from turning a set around, dominating the later portions of the set 17-10, 20-11 and eventually a 25-16 set win.

Set 3: FDU jumped out to a 3-1 lead early on but a kill by Josanne Lewis sparked a seven-point run for an 8-3 lead. The Devils fought back to a 10-10 tie and the set saw five lead changes before a Jada Everett kill at the 22-19 JJ lead sparked a five-set rally to give the Devils the 24-22 lead. The Bloodhounds found a kill from Rylea Sandel but Rachel Reiter (Riverside, Calif.) answered right back with a kill of her own to keep FDU alive and kept the match going

Set 4: Set four was a back-and-forth set with no team able to expand past a three-point lead. The Bloodhounds had advantage of the set, not allowing the Devils to take the lead up until they had a 17-14 lead. Arianna Wood (Wayne, NJ) then notched a kill that helped swing the momentum to a four-point rally for FDU for them to take the lead 18-17. Kills by Gabbie Hart (Cherry Hill, NJ), Freeman and Everett highlighted the Devils to s 24-20 lead. John Jay found a pair of points to try a rally of their own, but an attack error on the last point tied the match 2-2 and forced a fifth set

Set 5: The Bloodhounds started the set off two nothing with a service ace and a kill but the Devils answered right back with a kill from Wood and a service ace from Carrico. John Jay held an 8-4 lead heading into the bench switch and kept FDU at bay to have a 10-8 advantage but an attack error ignited six straight points for the Devils and at the 14-12 score mark, Hart fired a ball down into the John Jay zone for the match-sealing kill and stamped the incredible comeback for FDU-Florham.

FDU sees a quick turnaround as they host the College of Mount Saint Vincent tomorrow morning, at 11:00 am.

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