OAKDALE, N.Y. – The Caldwell College volleyball team faced two of the top teams in the East Region and came up just short, losing five-set battles to NYIT and Dowling College in a tri-match at Dowling Friday afternoon. The results give the Cougars a 3-4 record on the season. Both opponents participated in last year's NCAA East Region Tournament, with Dowling eliminating Caldwell in the quarterfinals.

Against Dowling in the second match, Caldwell won the first two sets, 25-19 and 25-23, before the Golden Lions (4-1) came back with victories in the third and fourth sets, 25-18 and 25-20 to force a fifth set. Dowling jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the final set before the Cougars came back to tie the score at 11-11 behind two kills from junior right side Kate Blankerts (Sylvania, OH/Southview). After a pair of Dowling points, Caldwell tied the score on a kill by Blankerts and an ace from freshman middle blocker Kelsey Blankerts (Sylvania, OH/Southview). But the Golden Lions put the match away with two kills from Bethany Shepard, who finished with a match-high 26 kills.

Freshman outside hitter Annyssa Herlihy (Springfield, NJ/Union Catholic) paced Caldwell with 15 kills and a .250 hitting percentage, while senior right side Amber Mosher (Flanders, NJ/Mount Olive) had 14 kills. Senior outside hitter Susan McDonough (Saline, MI/Saline) notched a double-double with 10 kills and a team-high 22 digs, while sophomore Athena Nestoras (Los Angeles, CA/St. Monica) notched 29 assists and 11 digs.

Earlier in the day against NYIT, Caldwell won the first and third sets, 25-18 and 25-22, with the Bears (1-0) taking the second and fourth sets by the same score of 25-22. In the decisive fifth set, the Cougars led 9-7 before NYIT took control of the game by scoring six of the next eight points for a 13-11 advantage. After a Bears' attack error made the score 13-12, a kill by Kate Brock and an ace from Becky Syers gave NYIT a 15-12 win.

McDonough tallied a team-best 11 kills, while Kate Blankerts registered 10 kills and a .474 hitting percentage. Nestoras and junior Lisa Roth (Gilbert, AZ/Williams Field) dished out 23 and 19 assists respectively. On the defensive side of the net, sophomore Jaclyn Del Cid (Bogota, NJ/Bogota) had 21 digs and McDonough added 18 digs.

Caldwell begins Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference play on Tuesday, Sept. 11 with a match at Dominican College. The first serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Orangeburg, N.Y.

CC (2) – 25 22 25 22 12
NYIT (3) – 18 25 22 24 15

CC (2) – 25 25 25 22 13
DC (3) – 18 25 22 24 15