Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The Caldwell College volleyball team lost to Dowling College in three sets and defeated Pace University in five sets at the Pace Tournament Friday night in the Goldstein Fitness Center. The Cougars are now 4-3 overall on the season.

Against Dowling, Caldwell trailed in the first set 17-8 before battling back to tie the score at 23-23. The run was capped by kills from freshmen Taylor Zaeske (S. Milwaukee, WI/S. Milwaukee) and Taylor Kovach (Oregon, OH/Clay). But a Cougar attack error and a kill by Franki Dove gave the Golden Lions a 1-0 lead in the match. Zaeske, junior outside hitter Athena Nestoras (Los Angeles, CA/St. Monica Catholic) and seniormiddle blocker Kasey Bausch (Bellmore, NY/Holy Trinity) each had four kills in the set.

After Dowling cruised to a 25-14 win in the second set, the third set proved to be another close affair. Down 22-21, the Cougars received kills from Nestoras, Bausch and Zaeske to sit one point from winning the set. But kills from Elizabeth Gorman and Jessica Kalbfleisch, combined with a Caldwell error, gave the Golden Lions a 26-24 win and a sweep. Zaeske had six kills in the set.

Nestoras led the Cougars with 11 kills to go with 12 digs, while Zaeske had 10 kills and Bausch added seven. Junior libero Jaclyn Del Cid (Bogota, NJ/Bogota) registered 20 digs. Kalbfleisch and Dragana Jelovac each had 12 kills for Dowling.

In an exciting match with the host setters, Caldwell dropped the first set, 25-18 before tying the match with a 25-19 win in the second set. Pace finished strong in the third set, scoring 10 of the final 15 points and hitting .371 to take a 2-1 lead. Again the Cougars battled back, hitting .306 and getting six kills from Zaeske to win, 25-19 and force a fifth set. 

In the deciding period, Caldwell built a 10-5 lead on the strength of three kills from Zaeske and two from Nestoras. Two more kills by Kovach had the Cougars on the verge of victory with the score 14-9. But the Setters tallied the next four points to close the gap to 14-13. On the next serve, Kovach put away the final kill to end the rally and wrap up the win for Caldwell.

Zaeske finished with a career-high 19 kills to go with 10 digs and four service aces. Nestoras added 11 kills and Kovach ended up with 10 kills. Senior setter Lisa Roth (Gilbert, AZ/Williams Field) registered 22 assists and 12 digs, freshman setter Rachel Carpenter (Newark, OH/Newark) had 18 assists and 12 digs, and Del Cid finished with a match-high 21 digs. Samantha Harting tallied 14 kills to lead the Setters.

The Cougars continue play at the Pace Tournament on Saturday with matches against American International and Florida Tech.

CC (0) – 23 14 24
DC (3) – 25 25 26

CC (3) – 18 25 19 25 15
PU (2) – 25 19 25 19 13