BlackbirdS
leave their hearts on the
court as season ends
Story by Scott Bickard // Photos by Brandon Luckain
T
hey knew this day was coming.
The LIU Brooklyn women’s
volleyball team took on Penn State
-- the #2 ranked team in the country
-- in the first round of the NCAA
tournament.
“We’re inspired by the challenge of
playing a great team, and it’s a privilege
to be thought of as a top team that can
contend with Penn State,” sixth year
head coach Kyle Robinson said.
Despite falling 3-0 (25-21, 25-21,
25-14), the Blackbirds put up one heck
of a fight in front of 1,600 fans.
Robinson’s Blackbirds (23-7, 140) have mostly earned that privilege
through a brutal early season schedule
against two nationally ranked teams
and three fellow NCAA tournament
qualifiers. The competition was
definitely there, but it took them a few
weeks to prove they belonged.
They began the year 2-4 after
invitationals in Florida and Maryland,
featuring two of the top 16 programs in
the country and a Maryland team that
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