BROOKLYN, N.Y. --- The LIU Brooklyn volleyball team closes out the regular season and gets its last tuneups before the Northeast Conference Tournament this weekend with a pair of league home matches. The Blackbirds will face Sacred Heart on Friday, November 10 at 6 p.m. and Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday, November 11 at 4 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
LIU tied its longest win streak of the season on November 3 with a 3-0 sweep of St. Francis Brooklyn in Brooklyn Heights. Juniors Viktoria Fink and Nina Petranovic each recorded a match-high 13 kills, with Petranovic adding 13 digs for her 12th double-double of the year. Freshman Piper Matsumoto led all players with 17 assists and sophomore Natalia Rivera added ten digs.
BLACKBIRD OUTLOOK
The Blackbirds have already clinched one of the four spots in next weekend's NEC Tournament (November 17-18). After this weekend, seedings and hosting location - which LIU is in the running for - will be determined. LIU will be looking for its NEC-leading 11th tournament title over the last 14 seasons.
The Blackbirds are the only NEC team in the top three of the league's seven major categories: hitting percentage (3rd, .189), opponent hitting percentage (2nd, .169), assists (1st, 11.90/set), kills (2nd, 12.62/set), blocks (3rd, 1.98/set), service aces (3rd, 1.34/set), and digs (1st, 17.51/set).
The Blackbirds are led by Fink (3.54 kills/set; 4th in NEC), sophomore Amanda Hubbard (7.14 assists/set; 5th in NEC), Rivera (5.39 digs/set; 2nd in NEC, 19th in NCAA), sophomore Filippa Hansson (.271 hitting percentage; 7th in NEC), sophomore Katharina Krepper (1.05 blocks/set; 2nd in NEC), and freshman Masa Zirojevic (0.26 service aces/set).
SCOUTING SHU AND FDU
Sacred Heart enters the weekend with a 11-14 record and a 5-7 mark in the NEC after dropping a pair of five-set matches at CCSU and Bryant. The Pioneers edged the Blackbirds in four sets back on October 13 in Fairfield. SHU is led by Makayla Dole (3.65 kills/set), KiKi Robinson (10.00 assists/set), and Madi Pope (3.67 digs/set).
Fairleigh Dickinson is 5-22 (1-11 NEC) and will take on St. Francis Brooklyn on Friday before facing the Blackbirds LIU defeated FDU in their last matchup, a 3-1 victory in Hackensack on October 14. The Knights are paced by Magdalena Maksimovic (2.66 kills/set), McKenna Setterlund (8.06 assists/set), and Carly O'Sullivan (4.15 digs/set).