BOCA RATON, Fla. - On a night of celebration at the de Hoernle Center, No. 1 Lynn volleyball delivered a pair of statement wins to open the 2025 home season. The Fighting Knights swept Missouri–St. Louis (25-22, 27-25, 25-20) in the opener before downing Flagler in four sets (25-20, 26-24, 19-25, 25-15) to cap an electric evening on the first day of the Hyatt Place Bash at the Beach crossover. Dominant performances at the net and clutch late-set runs highlighted Lynn's balanced attack, keeping the Blue and White crowd on its feet from start to finish.
Prior to the second match, three banners were revealed at the de Hoernle Center for championships during the 2024-25 year. Honored were team banners for volleyball and men's soccer and an individual championship from swimmer Luna Mertins.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Missouri - St. Louis):
Set 1: Lynn, 25-22
- Set one featured three ties and three lead changes
- A 5-1 run was highlighted by kills from Valentina Mogg, Ula Gorjup and Aline Olegario to put Lynn ahead by five, 9-4
- Back-to-back kills from Gorjup and Lillia Neill again gave Lynn a five-point lead at 13-8
- Olegario and Nadia Rossi each provided a kill for a 21-18 lead
- UMSL scored four consecutive points to go ahead 22-21
- The Blue and White closed the frame with four straight points to take the first set
Set 2: Lynn, 27-25
- Set two went down to the wire with five ties and two lead changes
- Kills by Neill and Brooke Jackson helped start the second set with a 4-0 Lynn run
- Lynn took a 10-6 advantage after consecutive kills from Olegario and Neill
- A 3-0 run from UMSL put Lynn down by one, 21-10
- Ahead 24-22, the Tritons had two set points that were negated by an attack error and a kill by Rossi
- Neill's kill again kept the set alive to tie the score at 25
- Rossi and Neill provided kills to clinch the second frame, 27-25
Set 3: Lynn, 25-20
- The Tritons opened the set with three straight points
- Kills from Mogg and Rossi tied the score at six apiece
- An 8-4 run gave the Fighting Knights a 14-12 advantage
- A pair of 3-0 runs brought the Lynn lead to 21-17
- After the Triton climbed to within one, the Fighting Knights closed the match on a 4-0 run, highlighted by a pair of kills from Mogg
 
FIGHTING KNIGHT STATS (Missouri - St. Louis):
- Lynn finished with advantages in kills (45-37), assists (42-33), blocks (16-11 in block points), and hitting percentage (.252-.120) while both teams tallied 65 digs
- Olegario led the team in hitting (.471) and added nine kills
- Rossi (13) and Olegario (11) posted double-digit kills
- Gorjup tallied 33 assists and a season-high nine digs
- Clara Maidantchik recorded a season-high 32 digs
- Neill had a team-leading and season-high five total blocks
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Flagler):
Set 1: Lynn, 25-20
- Lynn opened with three straight points, including an ace from Gorjup
- Gorjup assisted an Olegario kill for a 7-3 Fighting Knight lead
- Gurjup added a kill and block on back-to-back points as part of a 4-0 Lynn run to push the lead to six, 12-6
- Rossi provided a kill and an ace in subsequent plays for a 16-9 Lynn lead and her kill later in the set made the score 21-16
- Gorjup assisted the final nine points of the set, including Mogg's kill to clinch the first frame, 25-20
Set 2: Lynn, 26-24
- The second set had seven ties and three lead changes
- The Saints opened the set on a 5-1 run
- Mogg's kill, assisted by Maidantchik, brought Lynn within two, 7-5
- Three straight Flagler points gave it a 13-8 lead
- Jackson had a pair of kills during a 4-1 Fighting Knight run to bring the Blue and White within two
- A block from Olegario and Gorjup followed by Rossi's kill tied the set at 16
- The Blue and White took their first lead of the set at 18-17 after Neill's solo block
- Lynn regained the lead on back-to-back aces by Gorjup, 22-21
- Olegario's kill and Mogg's block sealed the set
Set 3: Flagler, 25-19
- After the set started tied at three, Flagler went on a 7-2 run to lead 10-5
- A 5-2 run gave the Saints a 15-9 advantage
- Mogg and Olegario had kills to bring Lynn within three
- A Saints ace brought them within a point of the set, 24-17, and a kill two points later clinched third frame
Set 4: Lynn, 25-15
- Flagler opened the set on a 4-1 run
- The Blue and White took a 5-4 lead with four straight points, highlighted by a kill and block from Jackson
- The Saints countered with a 5-0 run
- Mogg and Olegario had kills during a 4-1 spurt to climb within one
- A 5-1 Lynn run forced a Saints timeout
- The Fighting Knights continued their run out of the timeout, eventually scoring 12 consecutive points to lead 24-14
- Rossi ended the match with a crosscourt kill
 
FIGHTING KNIGHT STATS (Flagler):
- Gorjup had 45 assists, four aces, three blocks and seven digs
- She has 300 assists through 28 sets this season (10.7 per set)
- Rossi led all players with a season-high 18 kills and added eight digs
- Mogg hit .458 and posted her third double-digit kill match of the season with 13 kills
- Maidantchik had a game-high 12 digs
- Olegario hit .550 with 12 kills
- Lynn hit over .300 for the sixth time this season
- The Fighting Knights have started 9-0 for the second consecutive season
- The Blue and White had 10 total blocks in each win on the day
- Opponents are hitting just .101 against Lynn this season
 
UP NEXT:
The Fighting Knights close out the Hyatt Place Bash at the Beach tomorrow night when it hosts Lee at 7 p.m.