Volleyball Falls to Saint Francis U. in Five Sets
Lommori posts triple-double for CCSU.
The Central Connecticut volleyball team dropped a five-set match to Saint Francis U. on Saturday night in New Britain. The Blue Devils led 2-1 before the Red Flash rallied to take the final two sets and win the match 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 21-25, 25-19, 16-14). Senior Makenna Lommori collected a triple-double for the Blue Devils.
The loss drops CCSU to 10-9 overall and 2-4 in Northeast Conference play. SFU improves to 4-17 overall and 2-4 in the NEC.
The opening set was evenly played before CCSU managed to build a 20-16 lead following a 6-2 run with the help of Red Flash errors. SFU trailed 21-18 with Central serving before rallying for the final seven points of the set. Saint Francis got a pair of kills from Maria Cup, including the clincher to take the opening set.
Central bounced back in the second set and managed to break a 20-20 tie with a kill from Lommori to go ahead for good. Lommori recorded kills on CCSU's final two points to give the home squad the set and even the match.
The Blue Devils forged a 2-1 lead in the match by claiming the third set when Lommori led the Blue Devils with six kills. Junior Brooke Schwab's kill on the opening point put CCSU ahead and it led throughout the set. Back-to-back kills by sophomore Maddie Smith and junior Nicole Dean closed out the set for CCSU, 25-21.
The Red Flash rallied in the fourth set to extend the match. CCSU led 10-8, but four unanswered points, capped by a Maria Cup kill put SFU ahead 12-10. Saint Francis closed the set by scoring the final six points to send the match to a decisive fifth set.
In the final set, SFU built an 8-2 lead before Central came storming back. Lommori recorded a kill to make it 8-3 as part of a run of four straight CCSU points. After SFU managed to build its lead to 10-6, freshman Raquel Quirarte then served five straight CCSU points to make it 12-10, forcing a Red Flash timeout in the process. Back-to-back kills by SFU's Cup tied the match up and forced a Blue Devil timeout.
The Red Flash scored two more points after the stoppage to take a 14-12 lead, but a pair of SFU errors kept CCSU alive. Following a Blue Devil error, Saint Francis managed to close the match out on a kill by Cup.
Lommori finished with a match-high 19 kills to go with 16 assists and 10 digs. Senior Ashley Lenington led the Blue Devils with 25 assists. Junior Rachel Fish was one of five CCSU players with double-figure digs, posting a match-high 31. Schwab had six block assists as CCSU collected nine team blocks.
Cup led SFU with 16 kills and Amelia Metzler directed the Red Flash attack with 56 assists. Jenna Veres finished with 24 digs as the Red Flash neutralized the Central attack over the final two sets.
The Blue Devils return to action on Sunday when they host Robert Morris at 3 p.m. in Detrick Gymnasium
