Volleyball Sweeps St. Francis Brooklyn on Sunday
Blue Devils claim first NEC win of the season.
The Central Connecticut volleyball team swept St. Francis Brooklyn, 3-0, on Sunday to win its first Northeast Conference match of the season. The Blue Devils were led by senior Makenna Lommori who had 39 assists and junior Rachel Fish who collected 23 digs. Freshman Raquel Quirarte had a match-high 13 kills.
The win improves CCSU to 9-6 overall and 1-1 in NEC play, while St. Francis falls to 2-15 overall and 0-2 in the NEC.
The Blue Devils won in straight sets by scores of 25-20, 25-22 and 25-23.
Junior Brooke Schwab notched two early kills to help Central to a 3-1 lead in the opening set. The Terriers hung close and a run of five straight points midway through the set gave them a 12-10 lead before another kill by Schwab snapped the run. The Blue Devils broke a 19-19 tie on a kill by senior Heather Trueman and went on to win the set with three straight points, including back-to-back kills by Quirarte to close the set out.
St. Francis rallied from an early three-point deficit and used a run of six straight points in the second set to take a 15-13 lead. CCSU rallied by scoring four straight points and consecutive kills by junior Erika Jones and sophomore Maddie Smith put the Blue Devils in front for good at 20-17 and they went on to close out the set.
The third set was closely contested as neither side led by more than three points throughout. A kill by Quirarte broke a 23-23 tie and put the Blue Devils in position to win the match following a Terriers attack error.
Lommori set up the CCSU offense to hit .262 as a team. Schwab and Jones each chipped in with nine kills as CCSU had five players with at least five kills. Central limited St. Francis to .161 attack percentage, in part by collecting 51 digs and four blocks. Sophomore Lindsey Massicotte chipped in with eight digs, while Schwab had three block assists.
Niehely Sosa led the Terriers with 10 kills. Angela Hudelson led with 17 assists and Alexa Caporuscio had a team-high 17 digs.
The Blue Devils return to action on Saturday, October 3, with a match at Sacred Heart.