CALDWELL, N.J. - After losing all 31 matches since re-establishing its volleyball program, Caldwell College won its first match by defeating Felician College, 30-17, 27-30, 30-24, 30-17 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest Tuesday evening in the George R. Newman Center. The victory gives the Cougars a 1-14 record on the season and a 1-4 mark in the conference. Felician is now 0-11 overall, 0-4 CACC.
Caldwell discontinued its volleyball program in 1991, then brought the sport back to campus last fall. The victory is also the first for head coach Megan Hrbek, who came to Caldwell in 2006 to rebuild the program.
The Cougars took control early in Game 1 and never looked back, winning just its second game this season. In the second game, Caldwell trailed 21-12 before battling back to tie the game at 22-22. The comeback fell just short, as the Golden Falcons scored the last two points to take the game 30-27 and tie the match at 1-1. Game 3 remained close throughout. With Caldwell clinging to a 24-22 advantage, six straight Cougar points helped propel Caldwell to a 30-24 win.
Momentum remained with the Scarlet, White and Gold in the fourth and deciding game, with the Cougars building a 20-8 lead and never looking back. Freshman outside hitter Cory Roesing (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus) had eight kills and junior outside hitter Laura Ciesla (Chicago, Il/Lane Tech) recorded five kills in the final game to help Caldwell set a season record of 18 kills in the final game.
Roesing finished with career highs of 26 kills and 23 digs, while freshman middle blocker Keesha Francois (Elkins Park, PA/Cheltenham) recorded 11 kills and Ciesla had 10. Freshman setter Kendra Kane (Secaucus, NJ/Lacordaire Acad.) also set a career high with 40 assists to spark the offense. She also had eight service aces. Defensively, junior libero Laura DeVico (Maywood, NJ/Hackensack) recorded 19 digs, with Kane adding 11 digs.
The Cougars will attempt to continue their winning ways when they play another CACC match at Bloomfield College on Thursday, Sept. 27. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
CC (3) - 30 27 30 30
FC (1) - 17 30 24 17
