CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Queens University of Charlotte women's volleyball dropped a hard-fought battle to ASUN foe FGCU on Friday night inside Curry Arena, falling in four tightly contested sets (25–22, 15–25, 24–26, 31–33). The Royals moved to 15–9 overall and 6–5 in league play, while the Eagles improved to 14–8 and 8–3 in the ASUN.
Queens hit an efficient .302 on the night with 57 kills, 48 assists, and 12 blocks, pushing FGCU to the brink in a match that featured 38 ties and 14 lead changes. The Eagles hit .322 and edged Queens in digs (58–45) and kills (71–57) to take the road win.
Elizabeth Layson paced the Royals' attack with 16 kills and four blocks, while Mia McMillen continued her strong form with 13 kills on .429 hitting, one ace, and seven digs. Ellis Sargent added eight kills and three blocks, and Emma Norris chipped in eight kills with four blocks.
Setters Tyler Peluso and Megan Kelly directed a balanced offense, combining for 40 assists — Peluso finishing with 24 assists and .750 hitting, and Kelly contributing 16 assists and an ace. On the defensive end, Tilley Collins anchored the back row with 13 digs, and Anna Grace Sparks added 13 digs, three aces, and four kills. Camryn Teasley also made her presence felt at the net with five blocks.
Queens took a tight opening frame 25–22 behind late kills from Layson and Norris but couldn't maintain momentum as FGCU evened the match with a .500 hitting mark in set two. The third set saw the Royals rally from an early deficit to tie things late, but the Eagles held on 26–24 before pulling out a marathon 33–31 finish in the fourth despite multiple set-point opportunities for Queens.
Overall, the team hit .302 on the match — that's a really high clip," said Head Coach Matt Stolz. "In set four specifically, we hit .400, and it's not often you see a set lost when you hit .400 and your opponent hits .300. But I thought we showed a lot of grit and determination, especially coming out of the intermission tied at one apiece. Set three goes 26–24 and set four goes 33–31, so two sets decided by a combined four points — that was clearly a battle.
"I think it was two even teams that really got after it. A lot of credit goes to Mia McMillen, who received a lot of serves and did really well offensively, and Elizabeth Layson really carried us. She led the team in kills and attempts and did a great job at the net. Sarge [Ellis Sargent] again had a great game with eight kills, one error, and 23 attempts — she's consistently performing at a really high level for us, too.
I think we did a really good job overall. There were a couple of serves I wish we could have back, but we stuck to our game plan and really went for it. After set two, we did a much better job of receiving serve, and I think we're trending in the right direction. Hopefully, we can get healthy for Stetson on Sunday. We've got some nagging injuries, but it's a big match, and the girls will be fired up to get back out there."
The Royals finished with 72 total points to FGCU's 87.5, posting 57 kills, 48 assists, 45 digs, and 12 team blocks.
UP NEXT
Queens stays home to host Stetson on Saturday evening inside Curry Arena for their Senior Day. First serve is set for 1 p.m.
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