QUEENS, N.Y. -  The Lynn University volleyball team continued its dominant start to the 2025 campaign, rolling to back-to-back sweeps of Queens (25-16, 25-16, 25-13) and Wilmington (25-15, 25-19, 25-19) on Saturday at the 2025 Aline Pascale Lubin Invitational hosted by Queens. Behind a balanced attack, stingy defense, and standout serving, the Fighting Knights improved to 4-0 on the year.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Queens):
- Lynn earned its third victory of the season with scores of 25-16, 25-16, 25-13
- The Fighting Knights hit a collective .329, including a match-best .500 in the opening set with 13 kills and just two mistakes
- Lynn held advantages across the board including kills (37-24), aces (11-3), blocks (5-2), assists (37-21) and digs (41-29)
- Queens opened the first set with a 9-4 burst before the Fighting Knights came storming back on an 8-0 run
- Lynn took a 12-9 lead following the 8-0 rally with kills from graduate student Aline Olegario, sophomore Ula Gorjup and freshman Valentina Mogg
-  The Blue and White went on to piece together a 6-0 run later in the frame highlighted by four rapid service aces from junior Madison Jones, 21-13
- Lynn gave up just three more points in the opening set as three Queens errors sealed set one for the Fighting Knights, 25-16
-  The Knights of Queens jumped out to a narrow 10-8 lead to start the second set
- The Blue and White took advantage of a Queens service error to spark a staggering 17-3 run to take the second set in dominant fashion, 25-13
- During the rally, the Fighting Knights scored off of 10 kills, five Queens errors, one ace and one block.
- Graduate student Nadia Rossi, sophomore Lillia Neill and Mogg each delivered early kills in the third set, sparking a 8-2 start for Lynn
- Queens rallied at 11-7, but the Fighting Knights locked in for a commanding 14-6 run, spotlighted by back-to-back kills from Jackson and Rossi to clinch the sweep, 25-13
 
FIGHTING KNIGHT STATS (Queens):
- Rossi led all Fighting Knights with nine kills while hitting a near-perfect .818 (11 total attempts)
- Olegario chipped in eight kills and two block assists, hitting .313 on the night
- Gorjup handed out 32 assists to orchestrate the attack, adding three service aces and a pair of kills
- Mogg impressed again with seven kills, five digs, and a service ace
- Jones nailed a match-best five aces along with six kills
- Neill produced four kills, hitting .444
- Junior libero Clara Maidantchik anchored the defense with 14 digs
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Wilmington):
- Lynn remains unbeaten with a 3-0 sweep of Wilmington, collecting set wins of 25-15, 25-19, 25-19
- The Fighting Knights swung .310 as a team, highlighted by a blistering .429 clip in the opening set with 18 kills and just three errors
- Lynn held the advantage across the board with kills (46-25), assists (44-24), digs (47-31), aces (6-5) and blocks (5-5)
- Jackson and Mogg each delivered early kills to fuel a 7-4 start in the opening frame
- Lynn pieced together a 8-2 rally later in the first, capped by a Joelle Alexander service ace, before Mogg sealed set one with a kill from Gorjup, 25-15
- The Wildcats threatened in set two with a 9-8 lead, but Lynn responded with a 8-2 burst behind kills from Rossi and Jackson along with a block from Rossi and junior Laney Wilson, to go up 16-11
- Maidantchik nailed back-to-back service aces late in the frame before freshman Audrey Shaw clinched the set with a kill, 25-19
- The third set opened tight at 10-10, but the trio Rossi, Wilson and Shaw teamed up for four kills in a 7-2 surge that pushed Lynn ahead 17-12
- After Wilmington closed within 22-17, the Fighting Knights locked in for three points, punctuated by Rossi's fourth kill of the set to complete the second sweep of the afternoon, 25-19
 
FIGHTING KNIGHT STATS (Wilmington):
- Mogg powered the offense with a team-high 11 kills while hitting .450
- She also added 12 digs for Lynn's first double-double of the season
- Rossi continued her hot start to the year, chipping in eight kills, six digs, and a block assist
- Jackson put together a standout game with nine kills
- Wilson supplied eight kills, two digs and three block assists while hitting .429
- Shaw added five kills on a .250 hitting percentage with two blocks
-  Gorjup dished out 24 assists while graduate student Hope Passerello made her 2025 debut with 10 assists
- Maidantchik anchored the back row with a team-best 15 digs and two service aces
- Lynn's fiery start to the season marks the third time since 2019 the Fighting Knights have gotten off to a 4-0 start
 
UP NEXT:
The Fighting Knights are set to hit the road next weekend as they head to the Valkyries Invitational in Spartanburg, S.C. for a trio of matches. Action kicks off on Friday, Sept. 12 with the tournament opener against Erskine at noon.