CALDWELL, N.J. - The Caldwell College volleyball team fell to Philadelphia University in five sets, losing 29-27, 12-25, 26-24, 18-25, 15-12 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference match Saturday afternoon in the George R. Newman Center. With the loss, the Cougars are now 13-6 overall and 10-2 in the CACC, while the Rams improve to 12-6 and 10-2 in conference play.

The first set was close throughout, with nine ties. Caldwell had four set points but could not put two points together at the end of the set. With the score tied at 27, a Caldwell attack error and a kill by Leanna Lillge gave the Rams the first set, 29-27. Using five kills from senior outside hitter Cory Roesing (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus) and a team hitting percentage of .292, the Cougars cruised to a 25-12 win. The turning point in the match came in the third set. The Cougars led most of the way and held a 24-18 advantage, one point from taking a 2-1 lead in the match. But the Rams staged a comeback with eight unanswered points to steal the third set 26-24 and lead in the match 2-1.

Four kills apiece by senior outside hitter Justine Pecora (Clifton, NJ/Mt. St. Dominic Acad.), right, and freshman middle blocker Kasey Bausch (Bellmore, NY/Holy Trinity) lifted Caldwell to a 25-18 victory in the fourth set to force a fifth set. In the deciding frame, Philadelphia led 11-8 before the Cougars put together four straight points, capped by a kill from Roesing, to lead 12-11. But a Caldwell attack error, followed by a block by Ellie Edgar and a Lillge kill, set up match point for the Rams. Caldwell was unable to get the ball over the net on the final serve, as Philadelphia took the final set, 15-12 and the match.

Junior middle blocker Titilola Alao (Ossining, NY/Ossining) and Roesing each had 14 kills to pace the Cougars. Sophomore right side Amber Mosher (Flanders, NJ/Mount Olive) had 12 kills, Bausch finished with 11 kills and junior setter Lauren Roth (Findlay, OH/Findlay) dished out 55 assists to go with 15 digs. Defensively, sophomore libero Maddy Amon (Louisville, KY/Bishop Moore) registered 28 digs, sophomore outside hitter Susan McDonough (Saline, MI/Saline) had 21 digs, and Alao posted six total blocks. The Cougars recorded a season-high 105 digs and had eight total team blocks, but also had a season-high 34 attack errors, as the Rams tallied 14 total team blocks. Philadelphia was led by Lillge, who had 17 kills, and Edgar, who recorded 11 kills and seven total blocks.

The Cougars return to action on Monday, Oct. 18 with a CACC match at Felician College, Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Job Gymnasium.

CC - 27 25 24 25 12
PU - 29 12 26 18 15