QU Volleyball Sees Win Streak Snapped At Terrier/Rose Hill Classic

Saturday, September 3

Brooklyn, NY

11:30 AM

Quinnipiac University

5-2

St. Francis College Brooklyn

3-4

Quinnipiac

St. Francis Brooklyn

QU Volleyball Sees Win Streak Snapped At Terrier/Rose Hill Classic

9/3/2016 6:17:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: QU Sports Information

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Quinnipiac volleyball team had its four-match winning streak snapped, dropping a pair of road contests at two different venues to co-hosts Saint Francis Brooklyn 3-2 and Fordham 3-0 at the Terrier/Rose Hill Classic on Saturday.

With the losses, Quinnipiac slips to 5-3 on the year after falling one win shy of matching the program's longest winning streak at the Division I level (five, set in 2000). Saint Francis improves to 3-4 with the win, while Fordham improves to 4-3. Quinnipiac is also now 5-0 in home/neutral matches this season (one home, four neutral), and 0-3 in road matches, after also falling to the hosts at least weekend's La Salle Invitational for its other loss.

The Bobcats suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the first match of the day, falling in five sets to Saint Francis Brooklyn (17-25, 17-25, 25-23, 26-24, 15-9) after jumping out to a 2-0 lead, despite a double-double from senior middle hitter Allison Leigh (Palmer, Alaska - pictured) with 14 kills and 10 blocks. Quinnipiac never got going in the nightcap at Fordham, falling in straight sets (25-17, 25-20, 25-17).

In the first match of the day, Quinnipiac appeared to be cruising along to its fifth straight win, up 25-17, 25-17, 18-13, before the Terriers dug down and won the final three sets. Saint Francis used a 4-0 run in the third set to close within 18-17, then a 5-0 run to turn a 20-17 deficit into a 22-20 lead. Quinnipiac fought off two set points to close within 24-23, before the Terriers finished the set on their third try for a 25-23 win to stay alive.

The fourth set saw Saint Francis take a 24-21 lead before Quinnipiac scored three straight points to pull even at 24-24, with a kill from sophomore outside hitter Kat Miller (Collegeville, Pa.) wiping out the first set point and an ace from freshman setter Maria Pansari (Whitehouse Station, N.J.) wiping out the second. However, Milika Mladjenovich accounted for the next two points for the Terriers on a kill and a service ace, to close the set out 26-24 and force a fifth and deciding set.

Mladjenovich then had four kills and an ace in early part of the fifth set to help stake the Terriers to a 9-5 lead. An ace from freshman libero Alejandra Rodriguez (Toa Alta, P.R.) trimmed the lead to 9-7, but Saint Francis earned the next three points to take control 12-7, and then closed out the match with an ace from Aleksandra Gligoric.

Saint Francis never had a lead in any set until it went ahead 21-20 in the third, as the Bobcats jumped out to a 10-1 lead in the first set and a 6-1 lead in the second on its way to back-to-back 25-17 wins. The third set started to follow the same formula, with Quinnipiac leading 4-1 and 10-4, before the Terriers swung the momentum late in the set to stay in the match.

Senior middle hitter Allison Leigh (Palmer, Alaska) had 14 kills and 10 blocks for a double-double for the Bobcats, while Miller matched Leigh for team-high honors with 14 kills. Pansari had 40 assists, reaching the 40-assist mark for the fourth time this season.

After crossing the bridge to the Bronx, the Bobcats struggled to get going in its match at Fordham, falling behind 9-3 early in the first set and using both timeouts in the first 12 points. After falling behind 22-9, the Bobcats came back to drop the first set only 25-17, but had too big of a hill to climb. The second set was closer, with the Bobcats overcoming a slow start to get back within a point at 16-15, but Fordham was able to surge back into control and take a 25-20 win.

The break for intermission didn't slow Fordham down, as the Rams jumped out to a quick 8-1 lead. Quinnipiac clawed back as close as 16-12 after a kill from sophomore outside hitter Jen Coffey (Merrimack, N.H.), but Natalie Martinez had two straight kills for Fordham to restore momentum and the Rams went on to a 25-17 win.

Freshman outside hitter Natalie Alechko (Old Tappan, N.J.) led Quinnipiac with nine kills in the nightcap, while Leigh had six kills and four blocks for a 20-kill, 14-block day over the two matches. Rodriguez had a team-high 11 digs to lead the defense

Quinnipiac will be back in action for a pair of non-conference home matches this week, taking on UMass Lowell on Tuesday night and Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday night (both at 7 p.m.).