Volleyball Rallies Past Saint Francis U, 3-1

The Central Connecticut volleyball team rallied after dropping the first game to defeat Saint Francis U, 3-1, on Saturday at Detrick Gymnasium. The Blue Devils got a double-double from senior Raquel Quirarte and junior Madelyn Kaprelyan to remain unbeaten in Northeast Conference action. CCSU improved to 5-8 overall and 2-0 in the NEC, while SFU slips to 1-14 overall and 0-2 in NEC play.

Central won by scores of 18-25, 25-15, 25-15, 25-19. The Blue Devils travel to St. Francis Brooklyn on Friday.

The Red Flash used a 6-0 run in the opening game to take a 12-6 lead. The lead would grow to as much as 22-12 and SFU would finish out the game to win 25-18.

Central rallied in game two and raced out to a 10-3 lead. SFU would get no closer than three points the rest of the set as sophomore Emma Henderson would serve five points, including a pair of aces to push the lead to 18-9. The Blue Devils would push the lead to 22-12 after a block by juniors Morgan Woycik and Gala Galabova before closing out the set, 25-15.

In the third set, Galabova served six straight points as CCSU would push its lead to 13-6. SFU would close within, 13-9, but a 5-1 run would put CCSU in control at 23-11. A kill by Woycik would close the set, 25-15. 

The Red Flash opened the fourth game with five unanswered points and let throughout much of the game. After CCSU called timeout, trailing 15-8, the Blue Devils would get a kill by junior Madelyn Kaprelyan to open a 5-0 run. The Blue Devils would continue to trail, until a Galabova kill made it 19-17 to give the serve to CCSU. Quirarte would would close the match, serving seven straight points, including an ace. A block by Galabova and Woycik ended the match.

Quirarte finished with 14 kills, 13 digs and four blocks, while Kaprelyan added 12 kills and 18 assists. Kaprelyan also had eight digs. The Blue Devils were led defensively by sophomore Ashlyn Eisenga who had 18 digs. Galabova and Woycik had six and four blocks, respectively.