WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL DROPS FIRST TWO MATCHES OF 2016

GLASSBORO, N.J. - The Emmanuel College women's volleyball team opened the 2016 season on Friday with a pair of losses to Muhlenberg and Widener at the Rowan University Labor Day Invitational in Glassboro, N.J. The Saints dropped the first match to the Mules, 3-0, (25-17, 25-12, 25-18) and the second to the Pride, 3-1, (25-13, 22-25, 25-14, 25-16).

Sophomore Mary Shelow (Miami, Fla.) led the way for the Saints with 18 kills, seven digs, and three aces. Sophomore Carly Church (Higganum, Conn.) had 23 assists, while classmate Casey Sheehan (Medway, Mass.) added 23 digs.

Muhlenberg 3, Emmanuel 0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-18)

After trading the first 14 points of the opening set, Emmanuel and Muhlenberg each posted quick 4-0 runs, leaving things tied at 11. Head Coach Denitra Seals used a timeout, but Muhlenberg used two Shannon Hubert aces, and two kills each from Maggie Enestvedt and Tara Register to bust open a 17-11 lead. The Mules' lead ballooned to 23-13 before the Saints put up a mini-rally to cut the lead to 23-16, but Caroline Erb notched a kill and an ace to close out the set 25-16.

The second set belonged to the Mules from the get-go, as Muhlenberg bolted out to a 15-2 lead. Emmanuel pulled to as close as 21-11, but the Mules scored four of the final five points in the set, closing it out with a kill by Enestvedt.

The final set was much like the second, with Muhlenberg starting hot with an 8-2 lead. EC battled back at various points of the set, but the Mules were able to hold off any charge and put the Saints away with a smooth 25-18 and 3-0 win.

Widener 3, Emmanuel 1 (25-13, 22-25, 25-14, 25-16)
 
Widener never trailed in the opening set against Emmanuel and set the tone early by bursting out to an 11-4 lead, prompting the Saints to take a timeout. The Pride remained in control after the break and built their lead up to as many as 11 when Sabrina Barbieri set up Nicole Dorman for a kill to make it 23-12. Sophomore Kelsey Lee then added a kill and an ace for the final two points to clinch the set.

EC fought back, winning a hard-earned second set and evening the match. After two kills by Shelow put the Saints ahead 5-2, Widener scored five of the next seven points, tying the set at 7-7. Three service aces by Church and Sheehan (2), combined with multiple attack errors by the Pride, allowed the Saints to jump out to a 16-9 lead and forced Widener to call a timeout.

Due to four straight errors by the Saints, Widener evened things up at 19-19, but EC finished on a 6-2 run to win the set 25-21 on a Samantha DeMarco (Rockland, Mass.) kill.

After dropping the second frame, Widener came out strong in the third to regain control. The Pride scored the first four points and ballooned the deficit to twin figures when Forney smashed a Barbieri pass for a kill to give Widener an 18-8 advantage. A pair of attacking errors by Shelow later gave the Pride the final scoring they needed to win the set.
 
Widener came out strong again in the fourth frame and rattled off five straight, which was capped by Kalinock and Forney teaming up for a block on an attack attempt by EC freshman Marissa Cataldo (Melrose, Mass.). Nicole Dorman then smashed two straight kills to make it 9-1, providing more than enough insurance for the squad to eventually record its second win in as many tries to begin the 2016 campaign.
 
The Pride were led by Barbieri's double-double performance of 40 assists and 10 digs as well as Kierston Forney's career-high 14 kills. Dorman added 13 kills, and Lee finished with a .417 hitting percentage by recording six kills against just one error on 12 attempts.

Emmanuel (0-2) concludes tournament play tomorrow with matchups against Eastern at 11:00 a.m. and Swarthmore at 1:00 p.m.