Blackbirds Sweep Third in a Row, Defeat CCSU

(boxscore)

10/15/06 --The Long Island University volleyball team swept its third consecutive match and improved to 2-0 in Northeast Conference play with a 3-0 (30-22, 30-15, 30-27) win at Central Connecticut State. Martina Wagner (Friedrichshafen, Germany) led the way once again, pacing the Blackbirds in three statistical categories. The junior tallied 21 kills, eight digs and seven aces.

Long Island (14-9) took an early lead in the first game and refused to let the Blue Devils chip away at it. The Blackbirds turned an 11-10 advantage into a 21-11 lead en route to the game-one win. LIU limited Central to a .121 hitting percentage for the game.

In the second game, the Blue Devils again kept it close early, but Long Island led the entire way and used a 15-3 to take a 13-point edge. This time around the Blackbirds held CCSU to a .160 hitting percentage.

The Blue Devils took their first lead of the match to begin the third game, going ahead 2-0. The Blackbirds came right back to take a 3-2 lead and stayed ahead for the remainder of the match. The Blue Devils stayed close throughout, cutting their deficit to one point 10 times while tying the game twice, but Long Island managed to hold. The Blackbirds again held CCSU to an under-.200 hitting percentage, this time at .176.

For the match, Long Island hit .230, while the Blue Devils hit .152. The Blackbirds also held the edge in kills by a 53-29 margin. Junior Shelby Heggie (Laramie, Wyo.) was the only other player to notch double-figures in kills with 10. Freshman Svetlana Simic (Klek, Serbia) contributed a game-high 12 digs, as did Central Connecticut State’s Brynn Good. Good also led the Blue Devils with seven kills.

The Blackbirds will play their third-straight road match on Thursday, Oct. 19, when they visit St. Francis (N.Y.) at 7:00 p.m.