Volleyball Drops Five-Set Battle to Bridgeport
Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Oct. 15, 2013) - Despite jumping out to a two set to none lead, the LIU Post volleyball team dropped a five-set heartbreaker to East Coast Conference rival Bridgeport Tuesday evening at the Pratt Recreation Center in Brookville, N.Y.
Bridgeport took the match 3-2 with set scores of 15-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, and 15-3.
The Pioneers (15-5, 6-2 ECC) jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the first set, and later closed it out on a 9-5 run to secure the win. Junior Lulu Centro (Rome, Italy) tossed up a helper for sophomore Melissa Hansen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) to knock down the set-ending kill.
In the second set of play, LIU Post once again got off to a hot start with a 7-2 lead, before Bridgeport (7-2, 6-1 ECC) called a timeout to slow the onslaught down. The two squads traded points for a bit with the visitors coming within two points (17-15), until the Pioneers put together a rally to clinch the 25-20 win. This time, Centro sent home the set-winning kill with the assist from senior Makamae Namahoe (Hilo, Hawaii).
Then the tides turned.
With their backs against the wall down two sets to none, the Purple Knights started the third set on a 10-3 run. The home team put together a run of its own to bring the score within three at 14-11, but Bridgeport answered back with another rally, this time pulling ahead 24-16. With set point for Bridgeport looming, the Pioneers managed to rattle off six straight points to bring the score to 24-22, but a kill off the hand of Ying Shen made Bridgeport the victor of the third set.
Once again, the Purple Knights started off the fourth set ahead, and leading by as many as seven points numerous times with the latest instance coming at 20-13. LIU Post clawed back, only to drop the match 25-21 on a service error.
The fifth and deciding set was all Purple Knights, as they took the set 15-3 with an attack percentage of .538 in the stanza.
On the night, four Purple Knights finished with 10-plus kills, with Shen and Biljana Savic registering double-doubles.
Four Pioneers also finished with double-digit kill totals, as a trio recorded 11 kills - Hansen, junior Heather Adams (Centerville, Ohio), and freshman Shelby McCool (Eugene, Ore.).
Next up for the Pioneers is a road contest against Stonehill on Saturday (Oct. 19) at noon.