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Boxscore I Highlights
Brooklyn, NY -- In true Brooklyn fashion, the LIU Brooklyn women's volleyball team defeated Robert Morris in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament finals, to claim its third consecutive championship crown. The Blackbirds swept the Colonials 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-15) Sunday. LIU Brooklyn has earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Blackbirds have played in 10 of the past 13 Tournament Championships,and have won nine titles, the most of any NEC program.
Tournament MVP Vera Djuric (Lazarevac, Serbia/Svetozar Markovic) dished out 51 assists, marking the fourth time this season the NEC Setter of the Year has reached the mark, and the first time in a three-set match. Djuric connected with outside hitter Tamara Ignjic (Belgrade, Serbia/First Economic) for a season best 21 kills. Ignjic timed her peak performance perfectly, hitting .267 from the left pin, and turned in six digs.
NEC Player of the Year Annika Foit (Hausach, Germany/Robert-Gerwig-Gymnasium) contributed 15 kills to a Blackbird offense that doubled the Colonials kill tally. LIU Brooklyn totaled 54 kills, and held Robert Morris to just 24. Foit also turned in 14 digs, marking the senior's 18th double-double of the season.
The Blackbird defense was stifling, blocking seven balls, with middle blockers Nicole Okeke (DeSoto, TX/Central Arkansas) and Mengdi Zhao (Beijing, China/Beijing 101) knocking down two and three blocks respectively. Behind the block was three-time NEC Libero of the Year Adriana Vinas Joy (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Colegio Marista), who picked up a match high 17 digs.
In just her second season, sophomore April Krivoniak (Latrobe, PA/Latrobe) led the Colonials with five kills while Kristin Thompson (Monroe, OH/Bishop Fenwick), Arden Fisher (Oakmont, PA/Riverview), Erica Robb (Novi, MI/Novi) and Sydney Sizemore (Taylor Mill, KY/Holy Cross) each had four.
LIU Brooklyn controlled the pace of the entire match, only trailing once in the first set. The Blackbirds were all business coming into the second set, and opened the match on a 5-1 run. RMU would close the gap to 5-4, but from there, LIU went on a tear, scoring seven unanswered points to widen the lead back up to 12-4. It was all the cushion LIU would need. Ignjic had back-to-back kills to put LIU up, 23-15, and three points later, ended the second set with a kill, 25-16.
The Blackbirds opened up the LIU lead in each set thanks to Ignjic on the service line. From the front and back row, Ignjic was an unstoppable force. In the third set, the junior went on a seven-point Blackbird run, to all but seal the team's trip to the NCAA tournament.
This is head coach Kyle Robinson's fifth NEC Tournament title.
The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament Announcement will air at Sunday, November 30th at 8:30 pm ET on ESPNU. The NCAA First and Second rounds will be played on campuses around the country during the weekend of December 5-7.
LIU Recap I RMU Recap