ORANGEBURG, N.Y. - Four players recorded 12 or more kills to lift the Caldwell College volleyball team to a 3-1 victory over Dominican College in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference match Thursday night at the Hennessy Center. The Cougars, who won 23-30, 30-23, 30-28, 30-25, improve to 3-13 in the conference and 3-24 overall, while the Chargers fall to 5-16 overall, 5-12 CACC.
After dropping the first game, Caldwell never trailed in Game 2, scoring the first six points of the set and never looking back. Game 3 was close throughout, with neither team leading by more than three points. With the game tied at 27-27, the Cougars tallied three of the final four points, capped by a kill from freshman middle blocker Keesha Francois (Elkins Park, PA/Cheltenham), to take the game and a 2-1 lead. In Game 3, with the Cougars behind 14-6, four kills from junior Laura Ciesla (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) sparked six consecutive Caldwell points. The Cougars continued to trail until an ace by Ciesla (pictured) put her team ahead 24-23. After a kill by freshman outside hitter Cory Roesing (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus), two Caldwell hitting errors knotted the game at 25-25. But two more kills by Roesing sparked the Cougars to score the final five points to wrap up the game and the match.
Roesing recorded a team-best 17 kills, while Francois had 14 kills and just three errors for a .275 hitting percentage. Freshman Justine Pecora (Clifton, NJ/Mt. St. Dominic Acad.) had 15 kills and four solo blocks, and Ciesla finished with 12 kills and three service aces. Freshman setter Kendra Kane (Secaucus, NJ/Lacordaire Acad.) tallied 60 assists to go with three aces to ignite the Cougar offense. Defensively, freshman defensive specialist Kathleen Estes (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurst) had 12 digs, with Ciesla and Roesing each recording 10 digs. Kinikia Collier tallied 15 kills to pace the Chargers.
Caldwell completes the 2007 season on Saturday, Nov. 3, when the Cougars host Goldey-Beacom College. The first serve is set for 12:00 p.m. in the George R. Newman Center.
CC (3) - 23 30 30 30
DC (1) - 30 23 28 25
