WINTER PARK, Fla. – No. 13 Lynn volleyball carried its momentum onto the road Friday night, turning in another impressive Sunshine State Conference performance as the Fighting Knights stormed past Rollins in straight sets, 25-15, 25-23, 25-16.
Lynn controlled the match on both sides of the net, hitting .338 while holding the Tars to a .144 attacking percentage. The Fighting Knights put away 39 kills against just 13 errors and finished with advantages in kills (39-30), assists (39-28), aces (7-2) and digs (37-23).
The victory marks Lynn's third consecutive win and improves the Fighting Knights to 12-2 overall and 4-1 in Sunshine State Conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Set One: Lynn 25, Rollins 15
- The opening set was tightly contested early, with neither side able to create much separation through an 11-11 deadlock
- Lynn began to take control behind
Lira Pukl Verdel, who put away a kill before
Alexia Radulovic followed with an ace to give the Fighting Knights their first bit of breathing room
- With Lynn holding a narrow 16-13 advantage, the Fighting Knights turned the set on its head as Rollins committed consecutive attacking errors before Lynn began piling on offensively
-
Lillia Neill and
Zara Rendic delivered back-to-back kills as the advantage ballooned to 21-15
- From there, The Fighting Knights scored the final six points of the set, with Pukl Verdel adding another kill before
Ella Voorhees punctuated the dominant finish with an ace for the 25-15 victory
- Lynn held Rollins to just .029 hitting in the opening frame, forcing eight attacking errors
Set Two: Lynn 25, Rollins 23
- Rollins responded in the second and pushed Lynn into a back-and-forth battle that featured several momentum swings
- The Tars grabbed an 8-6 advantage before Pukl Verdel answered with a kill to keep the Fighting Knights within striking distance
- With Rollins leading 14-13, Rendic stepped to the service line and completely shifted the momentum
- Lynn ripped off four straight points behind a Rendic ace, an
Ula Gorjup solo block and a Gorjup-Neill combination block to surge ahead 17-14
- Rollins refused to go away, eventually erasing the deficit and pulling even at 19-19 before the teams traded points deep into the set
- Tied at 22, a Rollins attacking error gave the Fighting Knights the lead before Neill hammered home a kill to bring up set point
- The Tars fought off the first opportunity, but a service error on the ensuing point handed Lynn the 25-23 victory and a commanding 2-0 advantage in the match
Set Three: Lynn 25, Rollins 16
- Lynn wasted little time putting its stamp on the final frame
- Gorjup opened the set with an ace before combining with the front row to help the Fighting Knights jump ahead
- With the score tied at 3-3, Pukl Verdel took over from the service line
- The reigning SSC Offensive Player of the Week fired back-to-back aces before Rendic delivered consecutive kills as Lynn ripped off four straight points for a 7-3 advantage
- Radulovic and
Audrey Shaw continued to find the floor while Lynn's block repeatedly frustrated the Tars, pushing the advantage to 15-8
- Rollins attempted to hang around, but Rendic continued her outstanding night with three kills during Lynn's march toward match point
- With the Fighting Knights sitting at 23-16,
Chloe Riley entered and immediately delivered a kill to bring up match point
- Rendic fittingly finished the night moments later, hammering home her 10th kill to complete the 25-16 victory and straight-set road sweep
- Lynn was nearly unstoppable offensively in the third, hitting .500 with 14 kills and only three errors on 22 attempts
FIGHTING KNIGHT STATS:
- Pukl Verdel delivered another dominant performance with a match-high 12 kills on just 18 swings, hitting a blistering .556 while adding eight digs, two aces and two blocks
- Rendic joined her in double figures with 10 kills on .381 hitting, three digs, an ace and a block
- Radulovic added six kills and hit .385, while Shaw and Neill finished with five kills apiece
- Gorjup directed the offense with 35 assists while adding three digs, two blocks and an ace
-
Clara Maidantchik anchored the back row with a match-high 10 digs
- Lynn hit .338 for the match and saved its best offensive performance for the final set, pounding 14 kills on 22 attempts for a scorching .500 hitting percentage
- The Fighting Knights finished with seven service aces while limiting Rollins to just two
UP NEXT:
The Fighting Knights will close out their weekend conference road trip at Embry-Riddle on Saturday afternoon with match play kicking off at 4:00 pm.
