BROOKLYN, N.Y.— The Long Island University volleyball team competed in a five-set battle on Friday evening, falling to CCSU, 3-2 (25-13, 21-25, 25-19, 8-25, 19-21) at the Steinberg Wellness Center. With the loss the Sharks are now 7-14 overall and 6-3 in Northeast Conference play, while CCSU improves to 9-13, and 5-4 in the NEC.

The Sharks recorded three double-double efforts in the five-set match. Seniors Amanda Hubbard and Kora Schaberl along with freshman Karolina Nova tallied double-doubles. Hubbard dished out a match-high 41 assists and added 10 digs. Schaberl finished with 19 skills and 14 digs for the Sharks. Nova registered a match-high 26 kills and contributed 14 digs.

Junior Masa Zirojevic and sophomore Anastasia Scott also recorded double-digit digs for the LIU defense. Zirojevic finished with 13 digs and Scott tallied a career-high 31 digs.

The opening set started with both teams trading points early for a 6-6 standstill. The Sharks took the lead on a kill from Schaberl and block assist by freshman Fleur Wiersma and Schaberl for the 8-6 lead. LIU pushed the lead up to four points as a kill from Nova and an error forced a Blue Devils timeout at 12-8. Out of the break, the Sharks embarked on a 7-3 stretch paced by three kills from Schaberl to jump ahead 19-12 and force CCSU to use its final timeout. LIU continued to click offensively out of the final timeout with a 6-1 closing stretch, capping the 25-13 first set win on a service ace by Schaberl. The Sharks registered a .483 hitting percentage in the opening set.

The second set would start exactly like the first with both teams going back-and-forth for a 7-7 start. LIU used a three point stretch on a service ace from Zirojevic and a block assist by Schaberl and Weirsma. CCSU was there to respond with a four-point run of their own to take the 11–10. The Sharks countered with another three point run on kills by Nova and Schaberl to jump ahead 13-11. The Blue Devils used a six-point run to take control of the set at 17-13. LIU chipped away at the deficit using a 4-1 run to cut the set score to 19-17. Three straight points by CCSU gave the opposition a 22-17 advantage. The Blue Devils used one final kill to seal a 25-21 second set win.

LIU began the third set with a slight 7-5 advantage over the Blue Devils. The slight lead would continue to hold as the set wore on before the Sharks used a 5-1 stretch led by three kills from Nova to take a 14-8 favor. LIU continued to pace the set as a 18-11 advantage forced the final CCSU timeout. The Blue Devils started to cut into deficit, eventually cutting the Sharks lead to three points to 20-17. LIU ended the third set strong with a 5-2 closing stretch as one final kill from Nova sealed the 25-19 set win.

The fourth frame opened with a slight LIU lead at 4-3, on a pair of early kills from Schaberl. CCSU used an extended 11-2 stretch shortly after to gain control of the set at 14-6. The Blue Devils continued to hit as the set wore on, coming away with a 25-8 set win to force the fifth and deciding set.

Momentum carried over for CCSU to start the fifth set with a 7-4 lead to start. That lead would eventually grow to five points as the set wore on with a 12-7 advantage. LIU fought back with a 4-1 stretch as kills from freshman Miranda Strongman, Hubbard and Schaberl brought the score to 13-11. CCSU looked to seal the match at match point right after but a three point swing by the Sharks led by a pair of aces from Schaberl tied things up at 14-14. Both teams continued to claw for two-lead to seal the set from there, with LIU seeing two opportunities at match point. But both sides fought all the way to a 19-19 deadlock. CCSU made the last run of the match with two kills to close out the set 21-19.

UP NEXT

The Sharks close out the weekend in Connecticut with a 5:00 p.m. match at Sacred Heart on Saturday, October 26.