CALDWELL, N.J. - The Caldwell College volleyball team opened its home schedule with a victory over Dominican College, 3-1 Wednesday night at the George R. Newman Center. The win also marked the first Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference match for the Cougars, who are now 2-4 on the season. Dominican falls to 0-6, 0-2 CACC. Caldwell won the four-set match 25-16, 25-23, 21-25, 25-12.

The Cougars cruised to an easy victory in the first set, jumping out to a 9-3 lead and holding off the Chargers the rest of the way for a 1-0 advantage. Dominican led for most of the second set and held a 23-22 lead before the Cougars won the final three points to go up 2-0. Caldwell tallied 17 kills, four each by freshmen Titilola Alao (Ossining, NY/Ossining) and Amber Mosher (Flanders, NJ/Mount Olive), and hit .250 to overcome seven service errors in the second set. In the third set, the Cougars appeared to be in control with a 19-13 lead. But the Chargers battled back and racked up nine straight points for a 22-19 advantage. Caldwell never recovered, and lost 25-21 in the third set.

But the Cougars wasted little time in taking control of the fourth set, rolling to a 12-2 advantage en route to a 25-12 win and the match. Mosher and senior Laura Ciesla (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech), pictured, each had three kills to help the Cougars hit .231 in the deciding set.

Alao finished with 12 kills and a .409 hitting percentage to pace Caldwell, with Mosher adding 10 kills and Ciesla tallying nine kills. Freshman setter Lauren Roth (Findlay, OH/Findlay) kept the offense moving with 34 assists to go with four service aces. She also contributed on the defensive side with 17 digs. Ciesla and sophomore libero Kathleen Estes (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurst) each recorded 14 digs. Akirrah Cooper had seven kills to lead Dominican.

Next up is a non-conference match at Molloy College on Saturday, Sept. 20. The first serve is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. in Rockville Centre, N.Y.

CC - 25 25 21 25
DC - 16 23 25 12