COUGARS
VOLLEYBALL

10-18-07
box score
CALDWELL, N.J. - The Caldwell College volleyball team lost a hard-fought match to Nyack in five games, 30-24, 19-30, 31-33, 30-28, 15-13 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest Thursday night in the George R. Newman Center. The defeat, which marked the first time Caldwell has played in a five-set match, drops the Cougars to 1-22 overall, including a 1-11 mark in the conference. Nyack is now 8-11, 7-5 CACC.

After losing the first game, the Cougars hit .429 in Game 2 to tie the match with a 30-19 win. Freshman outside hitter Cory Roesing (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus), pictured, recorded eight kills with two errors in 13 attempts (.462) in the game to spark her team. Game 3 remained close throughout, with neither team leading by more than five points. With Nyack on the verge of taking a 2-1 lead in the match, the Cougars rallied from a 29-27 deficit to tie the game and eventually earn their second set, which was clinched on a kill by freshman middle blocker Keesha Francois (Elkins Park, PA/Cheltenham). Caldwell held the lead for most of Game 4 and were just two points away at 28-26 from winning the match. But the Warriors mounted a rally of their own and scored the game's final four points to force a fifth game.

This time it was Nyack who built an early lead, taking a 9-4 advantage in the deciding game. But Francois answered for the Cougars with five kills to help Caldwell record eight of the next 10 points for a 12-11 advantage. Again, the Cougars stood just two points away from victory at 13-12 before Nyack tallied the final three points on a kill by Colleen Weidman and a pair of blocks.

Roesing led all players with 26 kills while hitting .296 for the match. Francois finished with 20 kills and freshman middle blocker Justine Pecora (Clifton, NJ/Mt. St. Dominic Acad.) tallied 19 kills. Freshman setter Kendra Kane (Secaucus, NJ/Lacordaire Acad.) recorded 74 assists (14.8 per game) to guide the offense. Roesing and junior outside hitter Laura Ciesla (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) each tallied 15 digs, with junior middle blocker Ashley Cusack (Belmar, NJ/St. Rose) had four block assists to pace the defense. Caldwell set season highs in hitting percentage (.176) and kills per game (16.0). Nyack's Wendy Paige had 20 kills while recording four solo blocks to help her team to a total of 14 blocks for the match.

The Cougars travel to Philadelphia, Pa., to face Chestnut Hill College on Saturday, Oct. 20. The CACC match is set to begin at 12:00 p.m.

CC (2) - 24 30 33 28 13
NC (3) - 30 19 31 30 15

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