Annandale-on-Hudson, NY (September 15) – The FDU-Florham volleyball team (5-5) was faced with their second tri-match of the season and was able to come away with one out of the two wins with a 3-1 match against Host Bard (1-7) with scores of 25-27, 25-19, 25-13, 25-21. The Devils fell in their second match of the day as they lost 3-2 by set scores of 24-26, 25-16, 25-17, 19-25, 9-15 to Mount Saint Mary (1-8).


Vs. Bard
Helping on both sides of the net was first-year Amaya Ocasio (Secaucus, NJ) as she accumulated 41 assists, 2 blocks, and 3 service aces. Leading the offensive attack was Tayla O'Connor (Roxbury, NJ) who put up 18 kills and dove for 14 digs. Kiara Salme (Lyndhurst, NJ) rounded out the Devils stat line with 21 digs and 4 assists.

Set 1:  Despite seeing a service ace from Bard on the first point of the match, the Devils started to pull away after two straight kills by Jada Everett (Hackensack, NJ) for an 8-3 point run. The score kept climbing towards an end and reached a set score of 20-13 when Bard decided to go on a 10-4 point run to tie the set a 24-24 a-piece. The score jumped back and forth but it was in favor of the host Raptors as they claimed a 27-25 set one score after the Devils gave the final two points on errors.

Set 2: The Devils knew mistakes were not going to be carried into the second set as they started a 6-0 lead over the Raptors. Bard was eventually able to bring the score within one point and kept the game loose until the scoreboard read 18-15. The Devils were able to capitalize on Bard's errors and convert on the attack, which allowed them to pull out the 25-19 set win  

Set 3: Set 3 only saw the score tied once and occurred in the beginning when the Devils secured the first points on a kill and Bard benefited off Devil errors, 2-2. It did not take long after for the Devils to lead the offensive attack as kills by O'Connor and Vanessa Freeman (Piscataway, NJ) helped push them ahead to an 18-10 score.  Bard's final points of the set mostly came from Devil errors, compared to FDU who was able to produce a good offensive show to close the set at a 25-13 score.
 
Set 4: The Devils found themselves starting the set off on a 10-3 run over the Raptors. Bard soon was able to string points together to close the scoring gap even closer as they managed to produce seven points and in the middle of the set, 16-10. At this point in the set, FDU-Florham slowed their offensive pace which allowed Bard back into the set and to go on an 11-6 point advantage to come within two points of the Devils. Bard saw their final point of the match being scored on a kill, while FDU-Florham benefited once again off the Raptor's errors which helped them secure the 25-21 set win and the overall 3-1 match win.
 

Vs. Mount Saint Mary

In their second match of the day, FDU-Florham gave an even-balanced attack from all its Devils as Salme added another 20 digs to her season total, Ocasio added another 18 assists while Lilli Nawrotzki ( Flemington, NJ) was shy of matching her teammate with 17 assists. First-year Genevieve Fitch (Charleston, SC)  led the offensive attack for the Devils with 11 kills.

Set 1: FDU-Florham took the first point from Mount Saint Mary and was able to hold on past the fourth point as the score quickly climbed to a 10-4 reading after six straight points by the Devils. Throughout a majority of the set, FDU was able to keep their lead but did not realize that the Knights were slowly closing the gap when the score suddenly read 20-20. FDU assumed positions and tried to take back their lead but was short as three kills by Mount Saint Mary helped claim the 26-24 set win.

Set 2: The Devils saw a tie at the sixth point to start the second set against the Knights and trailed until a kill by Arianna Wood (Wayne, NJ) ignited a slight offensive spark to retake the lead for a moment before seeing another point tie at 16 apiece. FDU-Florham was able to close out the set for a 25-16 win after nine straight points were added to the Devils side of the scoreboard.

Set 3: A service error from Mount Saint Mary gave FDU their first point of the set and the Devils were able to build off that with additional points before the Knights evened the score one again, 8-8. Mount Saint Mary found two points on the court before the Devils racked up eight points to start a 15-5 scoring run that helped close the set at a 25-17 final score.  

Set 4: With a 2-1 set advantage FDU-Florham was ready to end the match, but Mount Saint Mary had different plans as the Devils tried to pull away at the begin of the set and were caught at a 10-10 tied score.  The Knights were on the offensive attack from this point in set forward as they were seen on a 10-3 run to help push the score out of reach for the Devils. Although this plan did not work for the Knights, a team effort and two service aces by Gabbie Hart (Cherry Hill, NJ) allowed the Devils to stay within two points, 20-18. Unfortunately, Mount Saint Mary found an offensive spurt to help push themselves ahead of the Devils for a 25-19 final set score and ultimately evening the match at 2 sets each.

Set 5: With the match on the line, both teams were ready to score but it was Mount Saint Mary did do so first at a rapid pace as they jumped out to an 8-3 lead. With four errors by the Knights, FDU had a chance to catch up but was not able to hold up their offensive end as Mount Saint Mary ran away with the 15-9 set and match win after a 7-2 point run.

FDU-Florham will be on Roger Kindel Court for their next contest as they are set to host St Joseph's-Brooklyn on Tuesday, September 17 for a 7:00pm non-conference contest.  

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