GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – The top-ranked Lynn University volleyball team wasted no time making a statement in 2025, opening the season with a dominant pair of wins on the first day of the Adelphi/Queens Tournament. The Fighting Knights started strong with a 3-0 sweep of Adelphi and followed it up with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over No. 19 Gannon, showcasing depth, precision, and a high-powered offense in their first action of the season.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Adelphi):
- Lynn earned the season-opening sweep with scores of 25-13, 25-14, 25-14
- The Fighting Knights hit a collective .415, including a match-best .455 in the opening set with 12 kills and just two miscues
- Lynn held advantages across the board including kills (40-24), aces (10-4), blocks (7-0), and digs (46-32)
- The Blue and White suffered just six errors all match with two in each set
- Graduate student Brooke Jackson delivered the first kill of the year for Lynn to spark a 6-1 run in the first set
- Tied up at 7-7, The Blue and White mounted a 14-3 run to go up 21-10 on seven kills, five panther attack errors and two service aces
- A solo rejection from graduate student Aline Olegario set up a service ace from junior Madison Jones to seal the opening set, 25-13
- Sophomore setter Ula Gorjup smacked the opening kill of the second set to kick-start a 13-4 run for the Blue and White
- The Fighting Knights allowed 10 more points in the second frame at 21-14 before an Adelphi service error paved the way for a 4-0 run including two kills from Olegario and a set-closing kill from graduate student Nadia Rossi, 25-14
- Two blocks from Olegario spearheaded a 6-3 opening run in the third set by the Fighting Knights
- The Panthers struck back, outscoring Lynn 6-3 to knot the set up at 9-9
- Lynn held a narrow 16-14 lead following a Blue and White miscue before locking in for a staggering 9-0 run to close out the match
- Gorjup assisted Olegario on a kill to start the rally which included four kills, two Adelphi errors and three aces
- Freshman Valentina Mogg closed out the match on back-to-back service aces, 25-14
 
FIGHTING KNIGHT STATS (Adelphi):
- Rossi led the Blue and White offense with 11 kills while hitting .524
- Olegario did a little bit of everything, delivering 10 kills (.500) while recording six blocks on the defensive front (three solo, three assists)
- Gorjup kept the Lynn offense moving with 32 assists and two kills in her first outing of 2025
- Junior libero Clara Maidantchik tallied a match-best 13 digs in her Lynn debut
- Mogg had a memorable Lynn debut, tacking on four services aces on-top of 12 digs and five kills
- Sophomore Lillia Neill smacked six kills coming off the bench
- Since 2017, Lynn has gone 8-0 in season-opening contests
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Gannon):
- The Fighting Knights hit .294, including .400 in the second set behind 14 kills and just two errors
- Lynn also held advantages in kills (58-37), aces (6-5), assists (53-35) and digs (48-37)
- The opening set proved to be a battle with the frame tied at 8-8 before the Fighting Knights pulled away on a 4-0 run, 12-8
- Gannon kept the first set close at 24-22 as a Lynn timeout set the stage for Neill to deliver the final blow of the opening set, 25-22
- The Fighting Knights took an early 8-6 advantage at the start of the second set before growing their lead to 13-6
 - The 5-0 run included three kills from the duo of Olegario and Rossi as well as a service ace, courtesy of Mogg
- Lynn never looked back for the remainder of the set, closing out the frame on a 12-6 run as a Gannon attack error sealed the second set in favor of the Blue and White, 25-12
- The Fighting Knights came out of the gate hot in set three, jumping out to a 12-6 lead
- Down the stretch, the Golden Knights found their footing, outscoring the Fighting Knights 12-6 to knot the set up at 18-18
- Gannon took a 24-21 lead before Lynn battled to make the set interesting at 24-23 before a Golden Knight timeout resulted in a set-winning kill to keep the match alive, 25-23
- The fourth set looked to be another battle with the frame all tied up at 7-7 following a Gannon block
- Lynn responded with a 9-2 rally highlighted by two kills from both Rossi and Mogg to take a quick 16-9 lead
- The Fighting Knights never lost the lead the rest of the way, closing out the fourth set on a 9-4 scoring run, 25-14
 
FIGHTING KNIGHT STATS:
- Rossi once again led the charge on offense with 16 kills while hitting a match-best .375
- She also added two aces and was just one dig shy of a double-double (nine digs)
- Mogg came in swinging with 15 kills and a service ace along with eight digs of her own
- Neill rounded out the trio of Fighting Knights with double digit kills, capitalizing with 12 kills and three block assists
- Gorjup continued set the tone on offense with a match-high 42 assists
- Maidantchik led the match with 17 digs
- Jackson paced Lynn on the defensive front, notching two solo blocks
 
UP NEXT:
- The Fighting Knights return to action in New York on Saturday, Sept. 6 with Queens at 10:00 am and Wilmington (Del.) at 12:30 pm.