Box Score WATERBURY, Conn. (Sept. 8, 2015) - The Molloy College women's volleyball team could not overcome a tough night of hitting, falling to Post University in four sets on Tuesday at the Drubner Center. Set scores were 25-19, 25-23, 22-25, and 25-18.
Molloy (0-5) would not lead at any point in the first set, despite trading the opening six points of the game with Post (3-2). Of the 44 points won in the stanza, 24 of them were captured due to errors, and this would play critically into deciding which team would take a one-set lead in the match. Following a Post service error, sophomore outside hitter
Samira Escobar (Fountain Valley, Calif.) and freshman
Carly Banks (Camas, Wash.) combined on a successful block to bring the Lions within one point, at 13-12. But, Post would take the next four points thanks to junior middle hitter Skylar German (Kansas City, Mo.). German converted a kill to get the side out for the Eagles, then launched a service ace to give her team a three-point lead. Two kills later, Post had a 17-12 advantage, one that the home side would not relinquish on the way to winning the first game.
The maroon and white would lead the second set thanks to a service error from senior libero Janiellee Alvarez (Norwich, Conn.). The Lions struggled to maintain their edge as junior middle blocker
Spencer Williams (Los Angeles, Calif.) collected an ace to even the game up at 4-4. Williams mishit the next serve, and Post would lead 5-4 with German next in the service rotation. Two service aces followed, bookended by a kill and hitting error against freshman
Jeanne Reinis (Santa Fe Springs, Calif.) to see the Eagles off to a 9-4 lead. Post would increase the lead to an 18-10 margin before Molloy mounted a comeback. Reinis struck for three kills in the next five points for the visitors, and three attack errors by the Eagles brought Molloy to a 21-18 deficit. At 24-20, the Lions scored three unanswered points on kills by Reinis and Williams and an attack error by German. With the score at 24-23, Post freshman setter Brianna Root (Bristol, Conn.) notched a kill to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third set, Molloy took four of the first six points on the strength of one attack error, a Banks kill and two service aces by Reinis. Maintaining the lead, however, proved to be difficult, as Post scratched and clawed its way to level the third set at 15. The home side held an 18-16 advantage, and took a 22-21 lead thanks to a kill from German. Molloy, though, answered the call and won the next four points to capture the set and force a fourth game. The final three points in the stanza were recorded as kills by Escobar, Reinis and Williams, respectively.
The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair as the teams traded leads for ties all the way through the first 18 points of the game. At 9-9, though, Post collected eight of the next eleven points to pull away to a 17-12 lead. Following a timeout, Banks responded with a kill to get the side out for the Lions. However, this was just a stopgap for the Eagles, who scored the next seven points to earn a match point at 24-13. With freshman
Meaghan Carr (Mineola, N.Y.) serving, the maroon and white valiantly fought back to a six-point deficit at 24-18. Following a conversation by Post in the huddle, Molloy would lose the next point and fall in the fourth set to the Eagles.
Reinis and Williams led Molloy with eight kills apiece, while Banks added seven kills. Escobar had five kills and 12 digs, a stat second only to the 14 digs from libero
Dakota O'Neill (Long Beach, N.Y.). Junior setter
Ally De Kruyf (Norwalk, Calif.) dished out 27 assists for the Lions in the loss. For Post, German sported an impressive stat line: 17 kills, 13 digs, seven total blocks, five service aces and a .378 hitting percentage. Alvarez led all players with 18 digs while Root had a game-high 40 assists in the victory.
The Lions now head to Pennsylvania to compete in this weekend's East Stroudsburg Invitational. Molloy will face Nyack at 2 p.m. on Friday (Sept. 11) before squaring off with the host Warriors at 8 p.m.
