Fourth-Straight Sweep Gives Blackbirds Harvard Invitational Crown

(Harvard boxscore)
(Binghamton boxscore)

9/9/06 --The Long Island University volleyball team continued its red-hot play with a 3-0 (30-24, 30-22, 30-22) win over Binghamton at the Harvard University Invitational. The sweep was the Blackbirds’ third of the tournament and fourth in a row. With those three wins, Long Island won the tournament and saw a pair of players named to the all-tournament team.

Junior Shelby Heggie (Laramie, Wyo.) notched 21 kills against Binghamton and totaled 54 in the tournament, earning a spot on the all-tournament squad. Classmate Lindsey Patty (Edmund, Okla.) also garnered all-tournament honors after racking up 139 assists over the three games, including 49 in the Blackbirds’ 3-0 (30-22, 30-23, 32-30) win over Harvard earlier in the day.

Long Island (6-4) took control of the match with Binghamton late in the first game. After trailing 23-17, the Blackbirds unfurled a 13-1 run to win the game. The run was highlighted by four Heggie kills. Heggie tallied seven more kills in the second stanza and five in the third game, leading LIU to a pair of eight-point wins.

The Blackbirds outhit Binghamton (2-8) 57-37 for the match, and held an edge in hitting percentage, .315 to .164. Junior Martina Wagner (Friedrichshafen, Germany) recorded her seventh double-double of the season, with 11 kills and 11 digs.

In the morning match, LIU handled host Harvard with another sweep. Heggie led a trio of Blackbirds with double figures in kills with a game-high 19, while freshman Svetlana Simic (Klek, Serbia) registered her fourth double-double with 10 kills and 15 digs.

Long Island jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the first game and never looked back. The Blackbirds led by as many as 13 points en route to securing the 30-22 win. Game two took a similar path as LIU again built an early lead on the strength of an 8-1 run and refused to let Harvard get close.

The Crimson (1-1) put up more of a fight in the third game. After the Blackbirds opened up a 4-0 lead, Harvard fought back to eventually tie the game at eight. The two teams then traded points until Harvard took just its second lead of the match at 16-15. No team led by more than two points the rest of the way.

The Blackbirds clinched the win when, with the score tied at 30, Patty set up classmate Toni Perhat (Porec, Croatia) for a kill and Perhat and fellow junior Trevon Dyson (Rock Hill, S.C.) blocked Harvard’s return on the ensuing serve.

With a team hitting percentage of .267, Long Island outhit the Crimson, 60-37. Harvard hit .162 for the match. Heggie hit a team-high .438.

The Blackbirds will return to action on Friday, Sept. 15 at the Hilton Garden Inn Greenbelt Invitational, where they will take on host Maryland at 7:00 p.m.