BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The LIU Brooklyn volleyball team beat St. Francis Brooklyn in the Steinberg Wellness Center Saturday, in a 3-1 Northeast Conference victory that lasted nearly two hours. The Blackbirds (10-13, 7-3 NEC) beat the Terriers (8-18, 3-7 NEC) 25-23, 25-22, 22-25, 25-23.
The game was a battle right from the start, and the two teams would trade the lead back and forth. St. Francis took a 6-4 lead on a kill and an LIU error, but the Blackbirds would use kills from freshman Filippa Hansson and senior Alex Larsen to come back and tie it up, 7-7. SFBK would score three straight points to go up midway through the set, 14-10, and the Terriers held on to that lead for some time. LIU would continue to battle back, and eventually used a 3-0 run to tie it back up. Back-to-back kills from sophomore Viktoria Fink and a service ace from freshman Amanda Hubbard knotted the score at 18-18. LIU would take the lead a short time later, with kills from Larsen and Fink, 20-19. It wouldn't last long, as the Terriers tied it up on the next point, and eventually went up, 23-22. But a service error by the Terriers would tie it up, and junior Alexandra Lilliquist landed a kill to give the Blackbirds set point, 24-25. A kill from Fink ended set one, 25-23 for LIU.
The second set was just as back-and-forth as the first. SFBK went up on a solo block, 4-2, and eventually widened that lead to 6-3 on another solo block from Dominique Gerard. LIU would score four unanswered points, including an ace from Lilliquist and a kill from Fink, to retake the lead, 7-6. The score stayed close from there, with neither team leading by more than three points. LIU had an impressive rally midway through the set. Down, 14-11, the Blackbirds scored six straight points, going up, 17-14. SFBK would eventually rally back to go up, 19-18, and the battle raged on. In the end, the Blackbirds once again scored three straight points to close out the set, including back-to-back kill from Fink to win set two, 25-22.
In the third set, the Blackbirds jumped out to a 4-1 lead, and maintained the lead, until the Terriers would score four straight points to go up, 12-10. The lead changed hands several times before St. Francis would go up, 23-20. LIU scored two points to cut the lead down to one, but the Terriers use two straight blocks to take the third set, 25-22, putting the match score at 2-1.
LIU came out firing in the fourth set, taking an early 3-1 lead, and holding on to it for the rest of the set. Two straight kills from Fink would put LIU up, 10-6, and kills from Lilliquist and Larsen widened the gap to 12-7. A few points later, a kill from Lilliquist and a service ace from freshman Emily Magee gave the Blackbirds a 15-9 advantage. SFBK would score five straight points to cut the lead down to 15-14, but LIU was able to maintain the lead. The Blackbirds would eventually go up, 23-19, and a block by Katharina Krepper and Larsen gave LIU match point, 24-20. But the Terriers kept fighting back, and would score three straight points to threaten LIU's chance, 24-23. But on the next play, Larsen would land the kill needed, and the Blackbirds took the fourth set, 25-23, and the match, 3-1.
Senior Alex Larsen led LIU with 18 kills and five blocks, while sophomore Viktoria Fink chipped in with a double-double, tallying 16 kills and 15 digs. Junior Alexandra Lilliquist also had a double-double with 12 kills and 14 digs. Freshman Emily Magee led the defense with 16 digs, while classmate Amanda Hubbard had 45 assists, and Katharina Krepper had five blocks.
Up next, the Blackbirds hit the road for the final northern swing of the 2016 regular season. LIU will travel to Rhode Island and Connecticut, to take on Bryant, Saturday, November 5 at 5 p.m., and Central Connecticut State, Sunday, November 6 at 3 p.m.