Volleyball Suffers Five-Set Loss to Dowling
Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Nov. 5, 2013) - Senior outside hitter Makamae Namahoe (Hilo, Hawaii) and freshman outside hitter Shelby McCool (Eugene, Ore.) each registered double-doubles for the LIU Post volleyball team, but the Pioneers were unable to stave off Dowling in a five-set loss Tuesday evening in Brookville, N.Y.
The final set scores were 25-16, 20-25, 13-25, 29-27, and 15-12.
After the Pioneers (21-7, 10-4 ECC) earned the first point of the night, the Golden Lions (16-11, 7-5 ECC) never trailed for the remainder of the first set to take the early one set-to-none lead.
Dowling led early once again in the second set, but LIU Post tied the score at six, and then another four tied scores followed with the latest coming at 13-13. From that point on, the Pioneers pulled away and closed out the set with a five-point advantage.
The teams battled back and forth to start the third set, but after the score was tied at 6-all, the Pioneers never looked back. With the green and gold leading 14-10, the home squad strung together eight straight points to jump in front 22-10. Both teams went on to score three more points each with the final point coming off a kill by senior middle hitter Susy Cricchi (Borgovelino, Rieti, Italy) from a feed by junior Lulu Centro (Rome, Italy).
Despite holding a 21-14 lead in the fourth set, the Pioneers were unable to clinch the win. The visitors tied the score at 22-apiece, and four more times to follow, including the final time at 27-all. Dowling's Elizabeth Gorman and Jessica Kalbfleisch tallied back-to-back kills to secure the win.
In the fifth and final set, the Golden Lions scored four straight to clinch the win.
McCool and Namahoe each tallied their eighth double-double of the season. McCool finished with 15 kills and 13 digs, while Namahoe totaled 13 kills and 18 digs. Junior Heather Adams (Centerville, Ohio) was the final Pioneer to eclipse the 10-kill mark with 11. Centro registered a match-high 40 assists, and sophomore libero Rachel Ringor (Honolulu, Hawaii) had a team-high 19 digs.
For the visitors, Cassy Kelly recorded a double-double with team-highs in kills with 13 and digs with 26.
The Pioneers look to bounce back Thursday (Nov. 7) in their final home match of the regular season versus Molloy for Senior Night at the Pratt Recreation Center. Play is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.