BROOKLYN, N.Y. --- The LIU Brooklyn volleyball team will begin the final march toward the postseason this weekend as the Blackbirds play host for a pair of Northeast Conference matches. The Blackbirds will face Central Connecticut on Friday, October 27 at 6 p.m. and Bryant on Saturday, October 28 at 4 p.m. at the Steinberg Wellness Center.

LAST TIME OUT
LIU ended its four-match road slate on October 21 with a 3-0 shutout of Saint Francis U. in Loretto, Pa. Junior Viktoria Fink and sophomore Amanda Hubbard each recorded double-doubles, their ninth and fourth of the season, respectively. Fink tied junior Nina Petranovic for the team lead in kill with 14 and had 16 digs as well. Hubbard logged a new team season-high in assists with 43 and added 12 digs. Sophomore Natalia Rivera was one dig short of the match high with 33.

BLACKBIRD OUTLOOK
This weekend will be critical for the Blackbirds, who sit in third place in the NEC and would make the league tournament if the season ended today. Facing the two teams ahead of them in the standings - while putting its unbeaten 5-0 home record on the line - will help solidify the playoff picture with two weeks left in the regular season.

LIU continues to be the only team in the NEC to rank in the top five in all seven major team categories - hitting percentage (5th, .180), opponent hitting percentage (3rd, .177), assists (2nd, 11.73/set), kills (3rd, 12.48/set), blocks (4th, 1.85/set), service aces (3rd, 1.36/set), and digs (1st, 17.56/set).

Individually, the Blackbirds are led by Viktoria Fink (3.40 kills/set; 5th in NEC), Amanda Hubbard (7.08 assists/set; 5th in NEC), Natalia Rivera (5.48 digs/set; 2nd in NEC), Filippa Hansson (.263 hitting percentage; 7th in NEC), Katharina Krepper (1.07 blocks/set; 2nd in NEC), and Masa Zirojevic (0.29 service aces/set).

ALWAYS READY TO BOUNCE BACK
With the victory against SFU, the Blackbirds have gone 12 matches without suffering losses in back-to-back matches, going 9-3 in that span. The last time LIU suffered back-to-back defeats was in early December when the team lost four straight in non-conference play.

FIVE ON IT
Sophomore Natalia Rivera picked up her league-leading fifth Molten/Northeast Conference Defensive Player of the Week on October 23 after yet another strong showing last weekend. The Puerto Rico native averaged 7.86 digs per set on the road against Robert Morris and Saint Francis U. She opened the weekend with 22 digs in a four-set loss to Robert Morris before logging a match-high 33 digs in a three-set sweep of Saint Francis U. Rivera has more volleyball weekly awards this year than any other NEC volleyball student-athlete in any category - defensive, rookie or player of the week.

SCOUTING CCSU AND BRYANT
CCSU leads the conference with a 13-6 (6-2) record and currently has the longest win streak in the league at five games. In the teams' last match on September 22, LIU rallied from 2-1 to defeat CCSU, 3-2, in New Britain. The Blue Devils are led by Raquel Quirarte (2.72 kills/set), Erin McDermott (5.32 assists/set), and Lindsay Massicotte (4.99 digs/set).

Bryant enters the weekend with a 16-10 (6-2 NEC) record and will face St. Francis Brooklyn on Friday before taking on LIU. The Blackbirds lost a close five-set match to the Bulldogs in Smithfield back on September 23. Bryant is paced by Julia Flynn (3.33 kills/set), Kirstyn Sperry (6.20 assists/set), and Erika Ward (3.92 digs/set).