BOCA RATON - Lynn University's volleyball team won a five-set thriller over Flagler College (31-29, 19-25, 25-16, 17-25, 15-13) Sunday afternoon at LU's de Hoernle Sports and Cultural Center. The Fighting Knights improve to 13-5 on the year while Flagler falls to 16-6.
The evenly matched contest saw the Fighting Knights out hit the Saints by a mere .186 to .180, but a season-high 12 service aces for Lynn and nine total blocks gave Lynn the victory.
Offensively, the Knights got 11 kills apiece from Mallory Deneen, Sophie Gagnon and Chelsey Semprini, while Gagnon also recorded five total blocks on the day. Katie Bradley also recorded double digit kills and digs with ten each while Haley Pratt and Kala Abdell posted nine kills. Pratt also had a solid game defensively with four total blocks (two solo). Devon Woolard also recorded a double-double with 53 assists and 11 digs to go with four aces.
Also defensively, Lynn got 33 assists from Lacy Redwine and 11 from Darian Weppner.
In the longest set of the year for the Knights, Lynn took the opening frame, 31-29. Deneen led the team with six kills in the set while Pratt collected five on just six swings. Semprini also posted four kills on just five swings as the Blue & White hit .319 for the set. The Knights took the early lead and forced a by Flagler holding a 14-8 lead. The Saints would then climb back and even held a set-point up 29-28. However, Lynn would prevail on kills by Pratt, Semprini and Deneen.
Flagler took the second set, 25-19 while outhitting Lynn .200 to .125. The six point differential can be seen easily by the box score as the Saints recorded four aces and the Knights had two service errors.
Defensive gave Lynn the victory in the third despite hitting just .129 for the set. The Knights held the Saints to a -.061 hitting percentage as Redwine collected six more digs in the frame and Gagnon recorded three kills.
Lynn fell in the fourth set in a stanza that was similar to the second set as Flagler out hit the Knights .222 to .093. The second and fourth sets were the only games where LU did not record a single ace as Lynn posted four aces in the first and five in the third.
The Saints actually held the lead for most of the deciding set and forced a Lynn timeout with an 11-8 advantage. A kill by Gagnon and an ace by Woolard pulled Lynn within one before two Flagler kills gave them the three-point lead once again and forcing a second Lynn timeout. After a kill by Deneen, two Flagler errors tied the match at 13. A kill by Semprini gave Lynn a match-point and after a Flagler timeout, Bradley ended the game with the team's 12th ace.
LU is back in action Fri-Sat., October 15-16 when they travel to Lakeland, Fla., to compete in the South region Crossover Tournament. Lynn will play North Alabama and West Florida on Friday at 10:00 am and 12:30 pm, respectively. On Saturday the Knights will take on West Alabama at 1:00 pm. Fans can follow the action live by logging on to www.LynnFightingKnights.com and selecting "Game Central."
