BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The LIU Brooklyn volleyball team had a huge home win Sunday afternoon, as the Blackbirds handed Central Connecticut State its first Northeast Conference loss of the season. LIU won, 3-1 (25-22, 18-25, 25-23, 25-15), to improve to 8-12 overall, and 5-2 in NEC action, while CCSU moved to 11-8 overall, and 6-1 in the conference. Sophomore Jiayi Zhang had a career-high 18 kills, hitting a scorching .405 to lead the Blackbirds to the win, along with four total blocks at the net.

The two teams started the game off on an even footing. LIU went ahead early, 3-1, on a service ace from freshman Natalia Rivera, but CCSU would battle back to tie it up. The teams were locked from there, seeing the score tie 14 different times, and the lead change hands six times. Liu put together a late 4-0 run to take the lead for good. A block by Jiayi Zhang and Mengdi Zhao started the run, and a kill from Zhang helped prolong it. After another ace from Rivera, the Blackbirds led, 23-20. CCSU would fight back to score two more points, but in the end, a kill from Zhang ended the set, 25-22 for LIU.

CCSU came out for revenge in the second set, going up 4-1 early, and never trailing from there. LIU errors would help them widen the lead to 11-5, but LIU started to battle back. Kills from Amanda Hubbard and Viktoria Fink would help LIU close the gap to 15-13, but a 4-0 run by the Blue Devils widened it back up, 19-13. LIU would continue to fight, but in the end, CCSU won the second set, 25-18, tying the match score up at one set apiece.

LIU was the team who took early control in set three, going up 4-1 on back-to-back kills from Zhang. A short time later, a kill from junior Sonja Vukosavljevic helped LIU widen the lead to 8-4, and from there, a 4-0 run made it 14-7. The Blue Devils made a late push, however, and facing set point, were able to close the gap to just one point on a kill, 24-23. But Fink answered on the next play with a kill that would give the Blackbirds a 25-23 set win, and the 2-1 match advantage.

The Blackbirds used that momentum, and came out to dominate in the fourth set. A kill from senior Alex Larsen got the set started, and kills from Zhao and Fink, along with a service ace from Hubbard put LIU up, 4-0. CCSU called a timeout, but to no avail. LIU would continue to roll, and used a solo block from freshman Filippa Hansson and two kills from Larsen to widen the gap to 10-2. From there, it was just a matter of time. Though the Blue Devils managed a 4-0 run midway through the set that would cut the lead down to 18-12, the Blackbirds would answer with a 4-0 run of their own. A block by freshman Katharina Krepper and Larsen sparked the spree, followed by a kill for Krepper, a kill from Zhang, and then a block from Zhang and Krepper together, putting LIU up, 22-12. The end of the set came soon after, as a kill from Hansson gave the Blackbirds set point, 24-15, and an attack error by CCSU ended it, 25-15 for LIU, as the Blackbirds took the match win, 3-1.

Sophomore Jiayi Zhang had a career-high 18 kills in the win, along with four blocks. Senior Alex Larsen had 10 kills and 15 digs, along with three blocks, and sophomore Viktoria Fink added 10 kills as well. Freshman Amanda Hubbard had 49 assists and nine digs, while freshman Natalia Rivera led the defense with 19 digs and a game-high three service aces.

Up next, the Blackbirds hit the road to start the second half of the NEC season, facing off against Fairleigh Dickinson, Saturday, October 22 and Sacred Heart, Sunday, October 23.