Robert Morris Ousts Long Island Volleyball Team, 3-2, in NEC Semifinals
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Long Island University volleyball team saw its six-year run as Northeast Conference champions come to an end as second-seeded Robert Morris dealt the Blackbirds a hard-to-swallow 3-2 (25-20, 22-25, 25-23, 23-25, 15-10) loss in the semifinals of the NEC tournament, hosted by Sacred Heart. No. 3 Long Island fought valiantly in a tense, back-and-forth contest that featured a pair of yellow cards and more than a few interesting moments. Freshman All-NEC First Team honoree Hanna Gibeau notched a match-high 22 kills in the loss.
In the deciding fifth set, the Blackbirds (10-21) took a 3-0 lead but saw Robert Morris (17-17) come back to take a 7-6 lead. Long Island retook the lead on a Colonials error, making it 9-8 but Robert Morris unfurled a 6-1 run to take control of the set with a 14-9 lead. The Colonials won 15-10.
Long Island fell behind 4-0 to start the first set but was able to scratch its way back. The Blackbirds cut it to two on several occasions, but Robert Morris stretched its lead to 12-8 on an ace from Andrea Catucci. Long Island then rattled off four straight points to tie the set. Sophomore Breanna Cullity started the run with a kill and freshman Artisha Jackson followed with an ace before an error and a kill from Gibeau knotted the frame. The teams traded points twice before the Colonials took the lead for good at 15-14. Long Island would claw its way back to within a point at 18-17 on a kill from Zuzana Buchlova but that would be as close as it would get as Robert Morris used a 5-1 run to take a 25-20 win.
The Blackbirds took an early two-point lead in the second stanza, but the Colonials fought back to tie at 6-6. Long Island hung tough and eventually extended its advantage to three points on a Gibeau kill and a Robert Morris error. The Colonials would cut it to one but the Blackbirds pushed it back to three on a kill by Cullity, forcing Robert Morris to call a timeout down 15-12.
The break worked for the Colonials, who scored two straight points to make it a one-point affair again at 15-14. Long Island would run its lead back to three points at 19-16 but once again see it shrink to a point at 19-18. With the Blackbirds leading 20-19, sophomore Jessica Rice registered back-to-back kills causing the Colonials to call another timeout. Amanda Craig tallied a kill to temporarily quell the Long Island attack but the Blackbirds came right back with a Buchlova kill and an attack error to push it to 24-20. After a pair of Robert Morris points, Buchlova scored a kill to give Long Island a 25-22 win to even the match.
In the third frame, Long Island jumped out to an 11-5 advantage on the strength of a 5-1 run. Senior Theresa Gorella ignited the spurt with a kill, which was capped by a sneaky fake set-turned-attack from sophomore Vanessa Gemignani, her second of the set. Robert Morris used a 5-1 run of its own to tie the set at 15-15 but Long Island temporarily took the lead again with a pair of points. Robert Morris would tie the frame five more times with the Blackbirds unable to take a lead of more than two points. With the score 23-23, the Colonials went ahead on an attack error. Robert Morris took the set 25-23 on a questionable call as Gemignani went for a dig that was ruled to have touched the ground.
The fourth set was another nailbiter, with the teams exchanging multi-point leads. Long Island built a 17-13 edge but the Colonials cut it to a point at 20-19. The teams traded points twice before a Robert Morris blocking error gave the Blackbirds a 23-21 advantage. After a Rice block, Amanda Graham scored a kill and Long Island committed an error to make it 24-23. A Colonials error gave the Blackbirds the win, sending the match to a fifth set.
The Blackbirds hit .152 for the match while Robert Morris swung at a .272 clip. Each team tallied 64 kills. Long Island had four players reach double figures in kills, led by Gibeau's 22. Buchlova closed with 14, Rice tallied 11 and Cullity added 10. Jackson led all players with 27 digs and junior Chelsey Stanton chipped in 16.
The Colonials were paced by 15 kills from Graham and 14 from Hannah Veith. Lindsey Monger led three Robert Morris players with 18 digs.
- LIU -
