Newburgh, N.Y. – Freshman Grace Riddle (Wantagh, N.Y.) led the Knights with 13 kills as the Mount Saint Mary College Women's Volleyball team stopped a five match losing streak with a 25-23, 25-17, 27-25 sweep of visiting FDU-Florham on Tuesday night in its home opener.
 
Following a back-and-forth start to the match, the Mount used a six-point run to open a 13-7 lead in the opening frame. The Knights used a Renee Hydo (Bethpage, N.Y.) kill and five FDU miscues to open the early six-point advantage.
 
Mount Saint Mary maintained the lead until a Mount attack error brought the visitors even at 19-19. The Knights would fall behind 22-20 in the first frame, but a pair of Riddle kills sparked a three-point run that closed the set and gave the Knights a 1-0 advantage.
 
The Knights never trailed in the middle set on Tuesday, using a three-point run to open the frame and five straight points to open an 11-3 lead. The Mount ran out to a 19-9 lead on a Hydo winner and after the Devils pulled to within 24-17 following a four-point spurt, Shannon Grogan (Levittown, N.Y.) put away a kill to send the Mount to a 2-0 lead.
 
A tightly contested third set saw FDU gain a 23-20 lead following a Jessica Garreffa winner, but the Knights hung on to score seven of the final nine points to secure the win. Danielle Kralik (Bedford Hills, N.Y.) ran off three kills in a four-point run that gave the Knights a 24-23 lead and after FDU jumped back in front 25-24, Morgan Burke (Ringwood, N.J.) tied thigs up with a kill ahead of a Kralik service ace that clinched the victory.
 
Riddle continued the strong start to her career, reaching double-figures in kills for the third time in the season's first eight matches. She rounded out the contest equaling the match-high with 13 kills, hitting .313. She added two aces and six digs to the winning effort.
 
Burke finished off the evening with six winners for the Mount, contributing six total blocks and three digs. Hydo and Kralik each put away five kills and added two service aces, with Hydo lifting nine digs in the win.
 
Emily Mazzurco (Middletown, N.Y.) led the Knights on Tuesday with 24 assists and finished a strong all-around match with two kills, a pair of blocks and seven digs. Sophomore Alyssa Barbara (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) recorded a match-high 22 digs for the Knights and chipped in two aces.
 
FDU was paced by 13 kills from Nathalia Padron, equaling the match-high in the category. Kacie Ros led all players with 26 assists, while Garreffa led the team with 12 digs to go along with eight kills and an ace.
 
Overall for the match, Mount Saint Mary held a slight 39-34 advantage in kills, but dominated service aces at 9-3 and total team blocks 7-0.
 
At 3-5 overall on the season, Mount Saint Mary returns to action on Saturday when it heads to Montclair State. First serve with the Red Hawks is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.