CALDWELL, N.J. - Trailing two sets to one, the Caldwell College volleyball team fought back to defeat Molloy College in five sets, 19-25, 25-20, 24-26, 25-15, 15-12 in a non-conference match Thursday night in the George R. Newman Center. The victory completes a season sweep of Molloy for the Cougars (6-6), who defeated the Lions in four sets back on Sept. 10 in Rockville Centre, N.Y. Molloy falls to 4-13 on the season with the loss.

After Molloy used a .303 hitting percentage to win the firs set 25-19, the Cougars rallied behind five kills from freshman middle blocker Titilola Alao (Ossining, NY/Ossining), pictured, to take the second set, 25-20. The Lions led for most of the third set and built a 24-19 advantage. Caldwell fought off set point with four straight points with freshman outside hitter Elise Lennon (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus) serving to tie the set at 24-24. But Molloy took the next two points to go up 2-1 in the match.

With Caldwell needing to win the fourth set to force a deciding fifth set, the Cougars turned in a hitting percentage of .481 with 15 kills to cruise to a 25-15 win. Freshman right side Amber Mosher (Flanders, NJ/Mount Olive) had four kills in the set to pace Caldwell. The fifth set went back and forth, with the Cougars leading 7-4 at one point before Molloy tallied five straight points with Angelica Nicalek serving for a 10-7 advantage. Again, Caldwell came back to tie the score at 11-11, then recorded four of the next five points to take the set and the match. Match point was punctuated by a thunderous kill by Alao, who led the Cougars with 17 kills and a .394 hitting percentage for the match.

Freshman setter Lauren Roth (Findlay, OH/Findlay) notched a season-best 41 assists to help the Cougars hit .261. Mosher tallied 16 kills and a .303 hitting percentage to go with a team-high 15 digs for her second career double-double. Senior outside hitter Laura Ciesla (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) and sophomore outside hitter Justine Pecora (Clifton, NJ/Mt. St. Dominic Acad.) reached double figures in digs with 14 and 11, respectively. Alao and Mosher also contributed on the defensive side, with five blocks each.

Nicalek led all players with 22 kills, while Kristen Sklarsky dished out 38 assists for Molloy. Monika Rodziewicz paced the Molloy defense with 16 digs.

Next up for Caldwell is a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference tri-match at Georgian Court University on Saturday, Oct. 4. The Cougars will play Chestnut Hill College at 1:00 p.m. before facing the host Lions at 3:00 p.m.

CC - 19 25 24 25 15
MC - 25 20 26 15 12