PAT LONGOBARDI — Sports Writer
The SCSU volleyball team had many errors in their match, and it cost them in the form of a straight-set loss.
The Owls committed 32 total errors as New York Institute of Technology defeated Southern 3-0 (25-17, 25-11, 25-14), in a non-conference match-up on Sept. 13 at Pelz Gymnasium.
NYIT (1-2) snapped a two-game losing streak and recorded its first win of the season after consecutive losses in five sets.
NYIT will play five of their first six matches at home, Southern being their only road game.
NYIT came out with a plan of being patient. They went on many runs of consecutive points in each of the three sets that also played a major factor in the outcome.
“(NYIT) have really strong hitters,” Southern junior Kimberly Lachowicz said. “We tried to get into a flow—New York came right at us.”
The first set was the closest of the match. With the set tied 3-3, NYIT (1-2) went on a 7-0 run to take a 10-3 lead. Southern (5-2) cut the lead to 19-13, but NYIT chipped away the final points to escape with the set.
In the second set, Southern led 3-1 when NYIT went on a 7-0 run to lead 8-3. Southern cut the lead to 11-7, but NYIT would go on a 7-0 run later to take a 24-9 lead, their biggest lead of the match that would clinch the set. Southern recorded 13 total errors in the set.
In the third set, NYIT went to work early, scoring the first six points of the set. Southern then called timeout. Southern would cut the lead to 10-5, but NYIT continued to get their kills and took Southern out of their game. NYIT scored the last three points of the set. Six players on NYIT recorded at least two kills, with 15 total for the set.
“I think we played very smart,” NYIT head coach Gail Wasmus said. “We kept our unforced errors down.”
NYIT contributed 15 total kills in two of three sets.
Sophomore Shelby Cable led NYIT with 15 kills on 29 attacks. Senior Damla Albayrak had 24 assists and six kills and nine digs. Senior libero Lisa Peacock had 17 digs. Junior Tugce Sirdas had six kills and seven digs.
“We played (Sarah Beres) strong,” Wasmus said. “She was hurting us. With the experience and patience, our development will come to us.”
Beres, a sophomore, led Southern with nine kills on 20 attacks. Sophomore Lauren McVey had seven kills and six digs. Lachowicz had 15 assists.
Early in the second set, Southern sophomore Vanessa Sullivan left the game after contact during a play. She would not return. Senior Megan Lyons would replace Sullivan.
NYIT led the game kills (42-25), assists (35-20) and digs (50-29) for the match. Southern led in total attacks (97-85). Of Southern’s 32 errors, 17 came during attacks. NYIT committed 14 total errors.
NYIT finished last season 20- 12 overall, and 8-4 in the East Coast Conference (ECC).
NYIT defeated Southern last season in straight sets, 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-15), in Old Westbury, N.Y. NYIT outscored Southern 50-29 in the final two sets of that match. Cable led with eight kills and had 12 digs, and Ali Falbo had eight kills.
Southern, who started the season with seven consecutive matches against non-conference opponents, snaps a two-game winning streak before moving into Northeast-10 Conference play against Saint Rose.
