BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Nov. 14, 2015) - The LIU Post volleyball team finished up the 2015 regular season Saturday with a 3-0 sweep (25-22, 25-22, 25-14) of East Coast Conference foe Queens College and a 3-1 victory (17-25, 25-12, 25-19, 25-20) versus Southern Connecticut State University at the Pratt Recreation Center.
Match #1: LIU Post 3, Queens 0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-14)In the first two sets, the Pioneers (22-9, 10-6 ECC) pulled away late to defeat the Knights (11-15, 7-9 ECC).
Tied 21-21 in the opening game, LIU Post scored four of the final five points to earn a 25-22 win. Senior setter/right-side hitter
Monica Amador (Cedar Park, Texas) and junior outside/right-side/middle hitter
Analise Austin (Honolulu, Hawaii) notched a kill apiece to lead the effort. Amador tallied 10 kills and hit at a .389 clip in the match, while Austin recorded seven kills.
In the second set, the Pioneers led 14-9, but the Knights answered with a 6-1 run to even things up at 15-all. Later in the game, the two squads remained tied (22-22), until a three-point spurt by the hosts sent LIU Post to a 25-22 victory.
Freshman outside hitter
Rachel Londot (Utica, Ohio) put down the set-winning kill. Freshman libero/defensive specialist/outside hitter
Natalie Miller (Scottsdale, Ariz.) added one of her four service aces in the contest.
Leading by a slight 5-4 edge in the third game, the Pioneers used a 6-0 burst to widen the gap to 11-4. Miller served back-to-back aces. Hansen, who registered a match-high 11 kills and .391 attack percentage, capped the run with consecutive kills.
The green and gold eventually built as much as an 11-point cushion (21-10) on a kill from freshman setter
Giulia Genna (Civitella San Paolo, Italy), and cruised to a 25-14 win to round out the sweep.
Match #2: LIU Post 3, Southern Conn. St. 1 (17-25, 25-12, 25-19, 25-20)Despite losing the first set by a 25-17 count, the Pioneers (23-9) rallied to take the next three games from the Owls (7-26) in a four-set victory.
Tied at 2-2 in the second set, LIU Post rolled off a 9-1 run to grab an 11-3 advantage. Miller and senior libero
Rachel Ringor (Honolulu, Hawaii) combined for three service aces in that stretch. The Pioneers never looked back from that point, as the hosts won the game, 25-12.
In the third set, LIU Post held an 11-6 lead early on, but Southern Connecticut battled back to pull even at 15-all. Shortly thereafter, the Pioneers managed to re-gain the lead (18-17) on a
Taryn McCullouch (Buena Park, Calif.) kill.
The Pioneers then used a 7-2 run to propel themselves to a 25-19 victory. Londot paved the way, providing a kill and two service aces in the spurt. Austin slammed down a kill, as well.
Southern Connecticut jumped out to a 6-0 edge in the fourth set, but LIU Post stormed back to deny the Owls' bid for a fifth game. The Pioneers went on a 14-3 streak, led by three kills from Londot and two from Amador, to rally to an 14-9 lead.
That proved to be all the green and gold needed to put the match away. Though the visitors were able to cut the deficit to 20-19, Londot again strung together three kills to lift the Pioneers to a 25-20 victory, sealing the four-set win.
The triumph also made
Shellane Ogoshi the winningest head coach in the history of the program with 142 victories, surpassing former head coach Susan Cassidy, who had a career 141 wins at the helm of the green and gold from 1997-2005.
Londot had a match-high 16 kills on a .308 hitting percentage, in addition to eight digs. Amador racked up 11 kills, five digs and two blocks. Austin totaled 10 kills. Miller amassed 18 digs, to go along with six aces. Ringor collected 18 digs and three aces. Genna dished out 41 assists.
Ogoshi and her LIU Post team have clinched the No. 4 seed in the East Coast Conference Championship. They will face top-seeded University of Bridgeport in a semifinal match-up on Friday (Nov. 20) in Bridgeport, Conn.