HACKENSACK, N.J. – The LIU Brooklyn volleyball team improved to 6-2 in Northeast Conference play Saturday afternoon, with a 3-0 sweep of Fairleigh Dickinson. The Blackbirds downed the Knights in straight sets, 25-20, 25-19, 25-21.

FDU jumped out to an early lead, capitalizing on LIU errors to go up, 6-1. The Knights would lead from there, but LIU began to chip away at the lead. A kill from freshman Filippa Hansson and one from sophomore Viktoria Fink would close the lead to 8-5, and a short time later, kills from sophomore Jiayi Zhang and freshman Katharina Krepper would bring LIU within one, 11-10. FDU would widen the lead back up to 14-11, but the Blackbirds started to surge. Two straight from junior Alexandra Lilliquist started the spree, and LIU would score four unanswered points to go up on the Knights, 15-14. FDU called a timeout and came out of the break to tie it up, 15-15, but LIU would outscore the Knights, 5-1 over the next plays, to take the lead for good, 20-16. FDU continued to fight, but the decision had been made, and LIU won the first set, 25-20.

Set two saw the Blackbirds jump out to an early 4-0 lead, with help from blocks by Krepper, Lilliquist and Zhang. Though the Knights would close the gap, 5-4, LIU maintained the lead. Kills from Hansson and Fink helped widen it back up, 8-4, and LIU led from there. Kills from Lilliquist and Hansson later gave LIU its widest lead of the set, 17-11. In the end, back to back kills from Lilliquist sealed the deal, and the Blackbirds took set two, 25-19.

The third set proved to be the most back and forth of the day. After FDU jumped out to an early 3-1 lead, LIU would use kills from Lilliquist to go up, 4-3. The two teams battled from there. LIU would go on a 5-0 run to take the lead, 10-5, but FDU would answer by outscoring the Blackbirds 6-1, tying the set up at 11-11. The rest of the set continued to follow suit: LIU would go up, 16-12, after a 3-0 run, but the Knights would answer with a run of their own, and tie it up once more. The two teams stayed locked, until at 19-19, LIU would take the lead for good. Two kills from Zhang put the Blackbirds up, and two straight service aces by Hansson widened the lead to 23-19. A kill by senior Alex Larsen gave the Blackbirds set point, 24-19, and two points later, a kill from Zhang would end it for LIU, 25-21, giving them the third set win, and the 3-0 match victory.

Junior Alexandra Lilliquist led LIU with 16 kills and 15 digs, while freshman Amanda Hubbard had 43 assists and 13 digs in the win. Freshman Natalia Rivera led the defense with 21 digs, while sophomore Viktoria Fink had 12 kills for LIU.

Up next, the Blackbirds travel to Fairfield, Conn. to take on Sacred Heart, Sunday, October 23 at 2 p.m.