ALBANY, N.Y. –
Brielle Jones and
Karielys Melendez each contributed 20-plus kills in a five-set victory for the Pace University volleyball team over the College of Saint Rose, 25-19, 20-25, 19-25, 25-19, 20-18, Saturday afternoon.
With the win, Pace improves to 8-3 on the year while scoring its first conference win and will continue conference play at home next Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Adelphi University.
Set one looked to be going in the direction of the home team, grabbing a lead in the middle of the set, 16-11, but Pace was just getting started. After Jones logged a kill, that served as springboard for Pace to take the next 10 points to take a 21-16 lead.
Jada Screen secured the first set in favor of the Setters with a kill to end the set.
The Golden Knights and Setters battled closed in set two, but the Golden Knights used a six-point run to get its lead up to 22-15 and managed to close the Setters out to tie the affair up. In set three, Saint Rose won nine of the first ten points in the set to establish an early foothold and the early gap would prove too much for the Setters to overcome.
Pace flipped the script in the prior two sets in the fourth set. Neither team was in control and when the score was at 17-17, Jones got the Setters the lead with a kill. After that,
Madisen Lupica and Melendez provided three kills and Jones smacked a service ace to take a 22-17 lead. Melendez supplied the final point of a kill to force the match into the final set.
In the final set, Pace won six of the first seven points to hop out to a 6-1 lead. The Golden Knights responded with five points of their own to tie the set up at 6-6. Pace did manage to get a match point at 14-13, but the Golden Knight fended it off. After that, Pace fended off three match points and following a kill from
Georgette Cosentino to fend of the third, an attack error by the Golden Knights gave the Setters another chance. Melendez capitalized on the chance and scored a kill to secure the match for the Setters.
When the dust had settled, Melendez turned in a double-double with 23 kills and 11 digs. Jones also turned in a double-double with 24 kills and 17 digs. Cosentino 48 assists and ten digs while Lupica contributed seven kills.
