Volleyball Wins Fourth Straight in Five-Set Thriller Over Albany

(boxscore)

11/9/06 -- The Long Island University volleyball team defeated Albany 3-2 (30-27, 24-30, 23-30, 30-26, 15-10) for its fourth win in a row on Thursday night at the Wellness, Recreation and Athletic Center. Martina Wagner (Friedrichshafen, Germany) led all players with 26 kills and six aces. The junior also added 18 digs for her 16th double-double of the season.

Freshman Svetlana Simic (Klek, Serbia) led the Blackbirds with 22 digs. Sophomore Martina Racic (Pula, Croatia) and junior Shelby Heggie (Laramie, Wyo.) each contributed 11 kills in the win. Junior Trevon Dyson (Rock Hill, S.C.) hit a match-high .353.

The match was tight from the start as the teams traded points for the first 14 tallies of game one. Long Island came out on top by a score of 30-27. Game two was just as closely contested, as the two teams battled back and forth until the Great Danes gained a 15-12 lead. Albany outscored the Blackbirds 15-11 the rest of the way to win the second frame, 30-24.

After the Danes took game three to put Long Island’s back to the wall, the Blackbirds rallied to take the fourth game by a 30-26 margin.

The Blackbirds (21-10) took an 8-3 lead in the deciding game, but Albany (17-10) put up a fight toward the end. The Danes cut the lead to 14-10 before a clutch Dyson kill sealed the match for the Blackbirds.

The win was the first five-game victory for the Blackbirds this season. Long Island had lost its previous four five-game matches.

Long Island outhit Albany, 68-55, and hit .169 as a team. The Danes hit .289 for the match and were led by Shelby Goldman’s 19 kills. Ashley DeNeal tallied a match-high 25 digs in a losing effort.

Long Island will wrap up its regular season with a pair of home games on Saturday, Nov. 11. The Blackbirds will host conference rival Saint Francis (Pa.) at 11:00 a.m. to decide the Northeast Conference regular season title. The winner of the game will also host the conference tournament. Long Island will then host Syracuse in a non-conference game later in the day at 2:00 p.m.