CALDWELL, N.J. (Sept. 7, 2016) – It was a different venue and a different year, but it was déjà vu all over all again for the Molloy College volleyball team: a five-set loss to Caldwell University for the second consecutive season. Scores from the George Newman Center on Wednesday (Sept. 7) favored the Cougars by margins of 25-21, 25-21, 20-25, 20-25 and 15-7.
After last year's five-set classic, Molloy (0-5) was eager to exact some semblance of revenge and notch the club's first win of the 2016 season. However, it would be Caldwell (4-1) jumping out early in the opening stanza of play; the Cougars grabbed an early 8-3 lead by scoring four points in a row following a kill from Jeanne Reinis (La Mirada, Calif.). The Lions would battle back in the first set despite trailing by a 16-13 score as freshman Shannon Wren (Lynbrook, N.Y.) collected a block to put her side within two points. After an attack error by the Cougars and a service ace from Jessica Fischetti (Seaford, N.Y.), the Lions were on level terms at 16-all. The Lions would then play a back-and-forth period and actually take a 21-20 lead on a service ace by freshman setter Sophia Smith (Georgetown, Texas). However, the hosts would utilize bookend kills from Avery Stanechewski (Tampa, Fla.) and Katrina Janssen (Seville, Australia) to cap a 5-0 run and win the first set by a 25-21 score.
The second set would feature a similar tale as Caldwell scored three straight points after a kill by Devon Hagerstrom (Bethpage, N.Y.) to lead by a 4-1 margin. The maroon and white later took the lead following three straight kills from Wren, a successful attack from Tara Carlin (Kings Park, N.Y.) and a block by Wren and Smith. Molloy held a 10-7 lead that would be bolstered to 14-10 on account of attack errors by the Cougars, but Janssen and Stanechewski brought their side back into the game. Caldwell led 20-19 in the second set before rattling off a 5-2 run, capped off by a kill from opposite hitter Jordan Hoffman (Colorado Springs, Colo.) to grab a two-set advantage by a repeat 25-21 score.
Carlin started off the third set with a kill for Molloy and the Lions would lead 6-4 in the middle frame thanks to kills by Hagerstrom and Hailey Wehr (Wading River, N.Y.). The two sides would trade points for quite a few moments with Molloy ending up leading the third set by a 14-13 margin after the hosts rattled off three in a row. Following a timeout, Caldwell gave the game to the Lions with a service error, an attack error and a combo block by Wehr and Hagerstrom. Molloy continued to feed off of the Cougars' miscues all the way to a 25-20 win in the third set to keep the Lions alive in the contest.
The fourth set began with offsetting kills by Wren and junior Taryn Auyong (Honolulu, Hawaii) and the Lions would hold a 4-3 lead after a service ace from Meaghan Carr (Mineola, N.Y.). Molloy's next four points were all kills by Hagerstrom as the Bethpage freshman put her side ahead by an 8-5 score that increased to 9-5 following a service ace by Fischetti. The lead for the Lions would balloon to a 17-12 margin and possibly the maroon and white were already envisioning a fifth set. Caldwell, on the other hand, wanted no part of it; the Cougars scored five in a row---a kill by Janssen, a Molloy attack error, two service aces from Gabrielle Bennett (San Antonio, Texas) and a combo block from Melanie Krpec (Katy, Texas) and Kathleen Compagno (Orchard Park, Ill.)---to level the set at 17-all. Molloy then responded by scoring six of the next seven points with another service ace from Fischetti and kills by Reinis, Wehr and Wren (combined with several Caldwell attacking errors). Reinis and Hagerstrom finished off the set with back-to-back kills and the match would need a deciding fifth set after another 25-20 win for Molloy.
Fatigue and unlucky breaks doomed the Lions to a fifth-set defeat on the night in the Garden State. Caldwell opened with three straight points as Janssen scored on a kill and then combined with Stanechewski on a block to put the Cougars in the hot seat early. Molloy made a valiant effort to respond, getting as close as 6-4 down on a block by Wehr of an Auyong attack attempt. In the end, however, Caldwell would take nine of the next 12 points with a Hoffman service ace closing out the match and capping off the night in disappointing fashion for the young Lions.
Hagerstrom---named to the East Coast Conference Weekly Honor Roll on Tuesday---and Wren both put on sensational hitting performances to lead the Lions. The two rookies both had 15 kills, with Wren notching a .314 hitting percentage and Hagerstrom sporting a .256 clip on the evening. Reinis contributed eight kills for her side while Carlin added six and both Smith and Wehr chipped in with four kills apiece. Smith collected yet another double-double with 44 assists to go along with 10 digs in the effort. Fischetti had 20 digs in the back row while Reinis added 15 digs and Carr rallied for nine digs of her own. The defensive play of libero Dakota O'Neill (Long Beach, N.Y.), however, was to be credited for keeping Molloy in the contest altogether. An impressive 34-dig performance saw the junior defensive specialist all over the court keeping plays alive and keeping her team in every point.
Caldwell, meanwhile, was paced by an 18-kill night from Janssen to pair with Auyong's 13 kills and Stanechewski's 12 successful attacks. Both Hoffman and Bennett had double-doubles with Hoffman notching 28 assists and 21 digs as Bennett collected 23 assists and 10 digs. Junior libero Jessica Mitchell (Plainfield, Ill.) had a solid night of back row play for the Cougars with 24 digs in the match.
The final team stats of the night were telling as Caldwell notched 61 kills and a .188 hitting percentage to Molloy's 52 kills and .158 attacking clip. Both sides committed 25 attacking errors while at the net Caldwell's six total blocks were just one better than that of Molloy (five total blocks).
The season for the maroon and white will continue on Friday (Sept. 9) in East Stroudsburg, Pa. There the Lions will open tournament play at the East Stroudsburg Invitational against the Hawks of Saint Anselm at 2 p.m. before facing the host Warriors of ESU at 8 p.m.
