Volleyball Falls to LIU in Five Sets
Senior Blaike King had 17 kills in the five set loss.
The Central Connecticut volleyball team fell to LIU Brooklyn in an exciting five set match on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Devils (15-12, 10-4 NEC) were led by 17 kills from senior Blaike King and 15 from senior Emily Cochran.
Central won the first and third sets of the match by the score of 25-18. LIU captured the second, fourth and fifth sets by scores of 25-16, 25-15 and 15-8, respectively.
The Blackbirds (20-7, 13-0 NEC) were led by Tamara Ignjic who had 21 kills in the match.
CCSU hit .381 as a team in the opening set to take the 1-0 lead. The team connected for 20 kills on 42 attacks and made just four attack errors. King led the group with seven kills on 15 attacks. Cochran (5) and senior Jamie Rademacher (3) also contributed to the offense.
LIU rebounded to win the second set behind six kills form Mirjana Rajic. The Blackbirds also had 4.0 blocks in the set.
Central regained control of the match by winning the third set 25-18. The Blue Devil net defense delivered 7.5 blocks in the third set, including five assisted blocks from freshman Makenna Lommori. Offensively, Rademacher contributed two kills on three attacks and sophomore Rachel Dunlap added two kills on four attacks.
The Blackbirds played their best in the third set, LIU posted a .371 hitting percentage and also had three blocks. LIU's strong defense recorded five blocks in the fifth set, which helped the Blackbirds earn the set and match victory.
King (17), Cochran (15), Lommori (5), junior Veronika Ban (5), Rademacher (4), Dunlap (4) and senior Allyson Porter (1) all contributed kills in the match.
Lommori posted 38 assists as the Blue Devils' primary setter.
Porter led the Blue Devils with 20 digs. She was joined in double-digits by Lommori (12), Cochran (12) and Ban (10). Sophomore Brittany Schumacher also contributed to the reception defense with nine digs.
At the net, Lommori led the squad with eight block assists and Dunalp assisted on five blocks, but also contributed a solo block. Rademacher (5), Cochran (2), Ban (2) and King (2) all recorded blocks for the Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils will return to action on Saturday, November 10, against Bryant at Detrick Gym. Prior to the 4 p.m. match, a ceremony will be held to honor this year's volleyball senior class.
