FLUSHING, N.Y. – New jerseys, same connection. Graduate outside hitter Kristina Peric and graduate setter Alice DiFrancesco, who spent a couple of seasons playing together at AIC, did not miss a beat in their reunion with Post University Women's Volleyball in their two opening matches of the season, helping the Eagles get to their first 2-0 start since 2004 and third in program history.

Peric finished the two games with a team-leading 41 total kills, while DiFrancesco had a team-high 66 assists in the pair of wins. The Eagles dropped the first set against both Queens College and Assumption University, before storming back to take the next three sets, winning both matches, 3-1.

THE BASICS

Post University 3, Queens College 1

Post University 3, Assumption University 1

Post University (2-0)

Queens College (0-1)

Assumption University (0-2)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Post University 3, Queens College 1
The only Post player in double figures for kills, Peric led all players with 20 kills on 61 attempts for a .213 hitting percentage, aided by DiFrancesco's 32-assist performance. DiFrancesco, like Peric, was the only player to reach double digits in her respective category for the Eagles as the former AIC duo led the way in the four-set win.

Leading by as many as seven points in the first set, the Knights would hold off an Eagle rally, which pulled them within two points, 18-16, en route to the 25-20 set win. Senior outside hitter Kendall Conrad, who had a team-leading 14 kills for Queens in the loss, had four of those 14 kills in the first set alone to help her team attack at a .273 clip.

Over the next two sets, Post would never trail as they opened the second set on a 10-3 run and used a 16-3 run in the middle of the third set to put themselves ahead 2-1 in the match. During that dominant stretch, the Eagles finished set three with a .474 attack percentage and were aided by 11 total errors by Queens across the two sets, which they won 25-23 and 25-12.
Trailing 13-12 in set four, another extended run, which resulted in eight of the next nine points going the way of Post, seemed to give them control of the set ahead 20-14 before Conrad went to work on the offensive side. After the senior's four kills, sophomore outside hitter Sophie Schonauer tied the set at 24 all before a kill, then an error by Peric sent the set to a 25-25 tie.

One of only three kills for DiFrancesco, followed by sophomore outside hitter Rayssa Satlher's match-leading seventh service ace, Post would take the set, 27-25, from Queens to beat them for the first time since September 9th, 2016, in 3-1 fashion. As a team, Post capitalized on 22 errors by the Knights, recording 19 service aces as a team in the affair.
 
Post University 3, Assumption University 1
Never taking the lead during set one, the Eagles trailed 5-1 to open things up as they did against Queens mere hours earlier. Despite a 6-0 run off the back of four consecutive service aces from junior outside hitter Vivien Andrea Fehervari, which pulled Post to within one, 17-16, they would only pull even once at 20 all, before three consecutive errors helped the Greyhounds hold off their comeback attempt with a 25-20 win. 

After having only four kills in the opening set, Peric teed off to the tune of 17 kills over the next three sets to help the Eagles win big in set two, 25-16, a narrow third set, 25-22, and the decisive fourth set, 25-15. Freshman outside hitter Elyana Ortiz emerged in the second game of the day, having finished with 10 kills on 25 attempts for a .240 attack percentage, as she was the only other Eagle besides Peric to record double-digit kills in either match of the afternoon. 

Building off her 32 assists in game one against the Knights, DiFrancesco finished with 30-plus assists yet again, this time recording 34 assists and tacking on 11 digs along the way. The graduate student from Pescara, Italy, had 18 total digs between the eight sets the Eagles played. An All-American last season, senior libero Alyssa Groves picked up right where she left off as well, compiling 28 digs in the first game before adding 24 more against Assumption to give her 52 digs on the day. Groves recorded the program record for single-season digs last season at 823 across 31 matches played. 

Senior middle blocker Kaitlyn Montgomery was the lone player to reach double-digit kills for the Greyhounds with 10 on the dot as Assumption finished with an attack percentage of only .042 against Post. Senior setter Marissa Krawcyzk had 18 of the 31 assists recorded by Assumption, while 21 digs from freshman libero Makenna Glenn gave her the team high. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• The win for Post University over Queens College in the first match of the day marked the first time on September 9th, 2016, in which the Eagles have beaten the Knights – All three of Post's wins in the all-time series have finished in 3-1 decisions 
• Putting up 19 service aces in the first game of the day against Queens College, Post University had its most service aces as a team since October 17th, 2023, against Caldwell University at home, when they also recorded 19 service aces in that three-set win
• After losing the first set in both matches, Post University starts the season 2-0, last season the Eagles were 5-6 overall in the same first-set loss scenario 
• At 2-0 to start the season, this is the first time Post University has begun the season with the mark since 2004, when they finished 29-12 that season, and the third time overall – The Eagles started 2-0 in 2002 as well, going on to finish that campaign with a 23-12 record

 
WHO'S NEXT
Post University will remain on Long Island, heading to the campus of Adelphi University for two more matches tomorrow afternoon against Belmont Abbey College at 1:30 PM, followed by a matchup with the Panthers at 4:00 PM. The Eagles have never played the Crusaders in program history, while being 0-3 against Adelphi without winning a single set across those three games.