SAINTS SWEPT OUT OF ROWAN LABOR DAY INVITE

GLASSBORO, N.J. - The Emmanuel College women's volleyball team (0-4) was swept in the final two matches of the Rowan University Labor Day Invitational in Glassboro, N.J., losing to Eastern University and Swarthmore College. The Saints dropped the first match to the Eagles, 3-0, (25-14, 25-14, 25-10) and the second to the Garnet, 3-0, (25-11, 25-16, 25-21).

Sophomore Mary Shelow (Miami, Fla.) led the way for the Saints with nine kills, seven digs, and two aces. Freshmen Shannon Carroll (Massapequa, N.Y.) and Marissa Cataldo (Melrose, Mass.) tallied seven kills each, while sophomore Casey Sheehan (Medway, Mass.) led the Saints with 16 digs.

Eastern 3, Emmanuel 0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-10)

Eastern jumped out to an early lead in the first set, but the Saints cut it to 10-8 on a kill by Sheehan. The Eagles scored eight of the next 10 points to open up an 18-10 lead. Eastern's Stephanie Elechko had four kills down the stretch of the set to close it out at 25-14.

The Saints kept things close in the second set, trailing 11-9 after a Sarah Schemerhorn service ace. Unfortunately for Emmanuel, the Boston squad would only score four points for the remainder of the set, and were singlehandedly outscored by Elechko, who had six of her 26 kills over that stretch.

The Eagles took control from the start of the third set, scoring nine of the first ten points and eventually stretching the lead to 21-9 before giving the Saints a point on a service error. Eastern was not deterred however, as Elechko popped three more kills to end the set, 25-10 and the match, 3-0.

Swarthmore 3, Emmanuel 0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-21)

Swarthmore established control of the match from the opening point, as Rachel Vresilovic's kill got things started. The Garnet scored 16 of the next 20 points, to put the Saints 13 points down, 17-4. Emmanuel drew as close as 10, at 20-10, but conceded five of the final six points to lose the set 25-11 on a kill by Alice Liu.

The second set was nearly identical to the first, with Swarthmore scoring the first four points and eventually jumping ahead 19-8. The Saints showed some fight, putting together a small rally to cut the lead to 21-14 after two kills by Cataldo. After the teams traded the next four points, Mehra den Braven's kill gave the Garnet set point, which they converted on an attack error by Shannon Carroll.

Emmanuel's best set of the day was the third set, as the Saints opened up a 12-7 lead after a service error by Malia Scott. However, three errors and a den Braven ace pulled Swarthmore back to within one at 12-11, and forced EC to use a timeout.

Swarthmore was the better side out of the break, going on a 9-0 run after the set had been knotted at 14-14.

Now trailing 23-14, the Saints posted a rally of their own, picking up seven of eight points and crawling back to a three-point deficit at 24-21. After a Swarthmore timeout, sophomore Katie Journeay (Hampton, N.H.) made an attack error that gave the Garnet the point they needed to close out the match.

Next for the Saints is a true road match on Tuesday, September 6, as they visit Western Connecticut State University at 7:00 p.m.