PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The LIU volleyball team notched its first win of the 2021 season Saturday at the Cherry & White Challenge hosted by Temple. The Sharks split the day, earning a 3-1 come-from-behind win over Iona, before falling to the host Owls, 3-0 in the night cap.
 
LIU beat the Gaels 25-27, 25-17, 25-17, 25-21, before falling to Temple, 25-20, 25-19, 25-18.
 
Game One
The first game of the day was back and forth, until the Sharks used a 7-1 run to take a 10-7 lead over Iona. LIU would hold on to that lead for most of the set until Iona made a run of its own. Down 14-18, Iona took a time out, and coming out of the break, scored five straight points to take the 19-18 lead. The battle went back and forth, with the Gaels serving set point, 24-23, but senior Jovana Stekovic tied it up with a kill. LIU then had a chance at set point, 25-24, but Iona would tie it up, 25-25. The Gaels then registered the next two points, taking set one, 27-25.
 
LIU came out fighting in set two, and after taking a 2-1 lead, would not trail for the rest of the set. Though Iona threated, closing the gap to 12-11, the Sharks pushed past with a 4-0 run, going up 16-11 and holding on to the lead. LIU ended the set on a 3-0 spree, with a kill from Stekovic, and a block by Jordan Macdonald and Miranda Strongman to win set two, 25-17.
 
Set three followed a similar pattern, with LIU ending the set on 9-2 run to take the 25-17 win, and a 2-1 advantage in the match. Set four proved to be more of a battle, with Iona leading 21-18 and threatening to win set four and tie the match up, but a kill from Strongman would spark a run for the Sharks. LIU finished the set on a 7-0 run, taking the set, 25-21, and the match, 3-1.
 
Stekovic led LIU in the match with 18 kills, while Strongman added nine. Anastasia Scott led the defense with 26 digs, while freshman Giorgia Cavalleri had 10. And Ainsley Malis had 28 assists in the win, while Allie Merz added 10 assists. And Strongman and Macdonald proved a force at the net, registering five total blocks each.
 
Game Two
In the second game of the day, the host Owls would outlast LIU in a close first set to take a 3-0 win. Temple hit .365 as team in the victory. In the first set, LIU would rally back from an early deficit to take a 15-10 lead over the home team, and LIU would lead later in to the set, 18-17, before Temple would rally back and take the lead for good. An ace ended the set for Temple, 25-20.
 
Temple would lead wire to wire in sets two and three, despite LIU's fight to come back in both. The Owls won those sets 25-19 and 25-18, taking the match win, 3-0.
 
For the Sharks, Stekovic had nine kills, while Scott had a team-high 18 digs. Malis finished with 19 assists and seven digs, while Merz had 11 assists.

Complete stats from game two will be posted when they become available.
 
Up next, the Sharks head south to take part in the Jacksonville Invitational, September 10-11 at Jacksonville University.