BROOKLYN, N.Y.— The LIU Brooklyn volleyball team earned a 3-0 (25-10, 25-12, 25-22) sweep over Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday night for its eighth straight Northeast Conference victory. The Blackbirds improve to 11-6 overall and have registered back-to-back straight set sweeps at the Steinberg Center.
LIU posted a .330 hitting percentage on the night and held the opposition to just a .055 attack percentage. Senior Viktoria Fink posted her fifth double-double of the season with 10 kills and 10 digs on the night. Junior Filippa Hansson and sophomore Jovana Stekovic both added seven kills for the Blackbirds. Sophomore Piper Matsumoto recorded 24 assists and junior Amanda Hubbard contributed 14 assists. Junior Natalia Rivera tallied a match-high 19 digs and classmate Kora Schaberl registered a game-high four blocks for the Blackbird defense.
The Blackbirds started the first set with a 5-0 run led by a pair of kills from Fink and a service ace from Schaberl. FDU would work the set to within five at 10-5 before LIU pushed ahead with a 8-1 stretch on another ace from Schaberl and kills from Hansson and junior Julia Azevedo to go up 18-6. The Blackbirds closed the set on a FDU service error to earn the 25-10 opening set win. LIU was clicked offensively with 14 kills and .438 hitting percentage to start.
The Knights would hang around early in the second set, holding LIU to a slight 6-5 opening lead. An 11-3 swing by the Blackbirds that started with a kill from freshman Myrthe Maring and ended with a kill from Matsumoto for the 17-8 set lead. The lead would get as close as nine before LIU ended the set on a four point run led by a pair of kills from Stekovic for the 25-12 set win.
Back-and-forth play ensued to open the third and final set before FDU went on a three-point run for the 10-8 lead. Both teams continued to trade points as the set wore on but it was a late 6-1 run by the Blackbirds to regain the lead 22-18. The Knights would cut the deficit back to within one 22-21 before LIU handled business with a 3-1 closing stretch capped by a kill from Schaberl for the 25-22 set win.
LIU picked up its fifth three-set win on the year and earned a pair of sweeps to take the season-series over FDU.
UP NEXT
The Blackbirds welcome Sacred Heart to the Steinberg Center for a 4:00 p.m. matchup tomorrow to close out the weekend.