BROOKLYN, N.Y.— The LIU Brooklyn Volleyball team saw its 2018 season come to a close on Friday afternoon, falling to four-seed Sacred Heart 3-0 (20-25, 24-26, 27-29) in semifinal one of the Northeast Conference Tournament. The Pioneers (17-9) outhit the Blackbirds (15-9) on the night with a 53-35 advantage on kills to take the match at the Steinberg Center.
After two quick points were traded to open the match, LIU made the games first run with a 5-0 stretch on kills from freshman Myrthe Maring, senior Viktoria Fink along with a block assist from juniors Julia Azevedo and Filippa Hansson to take a 7-3 lead. Sacred Heart did not fret eventually putting together a 5-1 run to take back the lead at 12-11. LIU continued to keep the game close but it was a late six point stretch to go up 21-17, that would be enough as the visitors took the first set 25-20.
The Blackbirds stormed out of the gate to start the second set with a 4-0 start on a pair of SHU errors and kills from Maring and service ace from sophomore Piper Matsumoto. After a brief pushback from the Pioneers, LIU used a 7-1 run paced by three block assists to go up 12-5. But momentum would swing back to SHU, who answered with a 7-0 run to tie the set up at 12-12. The Blackbirds responded with a four-point run thanks to back-to-back block assists from Hansson and Matsumoto to go back up 16-12. SHU would answer with another run to jump back up 19-18. LIU would take six of the next eight points, ending with a kill from Fink to get to set point 24-21. It was one final 5-0 stretch from the Pioneers for the 26-24 set win.
The third set started out with each team trading points before SHU jumped ahead with a slight 10-7 lead. LIU would creep back to within one point with a 4-1 stretch on a pair of kills from Azevedo. Four of the next five points would go to the visitors to jump ahead 19-15. The Blackbirds then went on a four-point run with a pair of blocks from Maring and sophomore Jovana Stekovic to tie the set up 19-19, before pulling ahead 21-20 on a block from Maring and junior Kora Schaberl. LIU would stay ahead, working to match point at 24-22 but the Pioneers would tie it up before going ahead 26-25. Back and forth play would ensue but it was SHU who ended the set on a two-point run to take the 29-27 set win and earn the semifinal victory.
Fink led the team with 11 kills in her final game, ending her remarkable LIU career with 854 kills in four seasons. Azevedo recorded nine kills and hit .500 for the Blackbirds. Junior Natalia Rivera added 12 digs and senior Alexandra Lilliquist finished with 11 digs. Hansson tallied a game-high nine blocks, while Azevedo added six, as the Blackbirds outblocked the Pioneers 14-6 on the night.
LIU finishes the 2018 season with a 15-9 record, reaching its 17th straight NEC Tournament and earning the 11th NEC regular season championship in program history.