DSU Upsets FDU-Florham, 3-1, in Freedom Semi’s; Mellon Tallies 1,000th Kill

Junior Jen Mellon became the fifth player in DSU history to record 1,000+ kills in the win over FDU-Florham on Wednesday.

BOX SCORE

Madison, NJ (November 5, 2008) – Sophomore Kylie Fehnel (Nazareth, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) had 16 kills, 14 digs, and five blocks leading the DeSales University volleyball team past FDU-Florham, 3-1 (25-18, 25-23, 16-25, 25-23), in the Freedom Conference semifinals advancing the Bulldogs to the title match on Saturday.

The third seeded Bulldogs (20-12 overall) avenged an early season loss to the Devils (21-14 overall) with the upset win as FDU was seeded second in the playoff tournament. DSU is now one win away from winning back-to-back Freedom Conference championships and earning back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament. DeSales will travel to top seeded, Eastern University, for the championship match on Saturday beginning at 6:00 pm.

The Bulldogs started strong on Wednesday evening opening up a 10-1 lead in the opening set as freshman Katie Dziuma (Bronx, NY/Preston) served nine straight points including three service aces in the rally. FDU fought back to within three points a few times before DSU pulled away for the seven-point win in the opening set.

The second set was back-and-forth the entire time and with the score tied at 23, DSU scored the next two points to take a 2-0 lead in the match. The third game was another back-and-forth affair early but the Bulldogs struggled on the attack committing one more error than kill and the Devils took the third set scoring eight of the last nine points after DSU trailed 17-15.

In the fourth set FDU-Florham was serving with a 22-19 lead as DeSales won back the serve down two points. As the Bulldogs were ready to serve a yellow card was issued to the Devils' setter and the momentum seemed to switch hands as DSU scored the next four points to take a 24-22 lead and after FDU earned the serve back, senior Joann Rivera (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) put down a kill on the ensuing service giving DSU a four-set win in the match.

Fehnel hit .387 for the match committing just four errors on 31 attack attempts. Junior Jen Mellon (Media, PA/Penncrest) had a historic evening as she totaled nine kills and hit .333 for the match becoming just the fifth player in DSU history to reach the 1,000-kill plateau.

Freshman Lauren Hickey (Ridley Park, PA/Ridley) also had nine kills, while Rivera and fellow senior Ashley Grube (Orwigsburg, PA/Blue Mountain) totaled eight kills in the win. Junior Kerri Andrews (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) had a match-high 24 digs, while Dziuma and sophomore Alyssa Poplaski (Mechanicsburg, PA/Mechanicsburg) each finished with 11 digs. Senior Sharon Uliana (Fleetwood, PA/Reading Central Catholic) also had a very good all-around match with 43 assists, 11 digs and three blocks.

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