ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. -- Senior hitter Alexa McEwan (Beachwood, N.J.) had a team-best eight kills in the first game and junior hitter Wyette Schubert-Brown (Chatsworth, N.J.) had nine in the second as Caldwell volleyball dropped a pair of matches to open its 2024 season at the East Coast Conference challenge at Molloy University. The host Lions took the first match, 3-1, while Saint Anselm defeated CU, 3-0, in the second.

In the opener, Caldwell (0-2) got off to a fast start, winning the first set, 25-20, behind a 12-kill attack. CU erased a 6-2 deficit with seven straight points on the right arm of McEwan, then later stretched a 17-16 lead to 21-16 as freshman setter Grace Moliterno (Chester, N.Y.) had two aces mixed in with kills by junior setter Jordan Mack (Yorba Linda, Calif.) and soph hitter Andrea Enabosi (Piscataway, N.J.). A double block by Schubert-Brown and McEwan closed out the set.

In addition to McEwan's eight kills, Schubert-Brown and Enabosi had six each. Moliterno had 15 assists and Mack 14 to go with 13 digs for the Cougars.

In the second game of the day, the Cougars were again sharp early, pushing St. Anselm (2-2) before a late flurry gave the Hawks the win. St. A's went on to take the next two sets for the triumph. Mack led with eight assists while Schubert-Brown and junior libero Torrien Jones (Camp Springs, Md.) recorded seven digs apiece.

The Cougars get right back on the hardwood on Saturday, continuing play in the ECC Challenge at St. Thomas Aquinas College, taking on East Stroudsburg at 2 p.m. and the host Spartans at 4.