Stephanie Klug	Kristin Kirwan
Lizzy Zimmermann	Brittany Cafiero

Box score (vs. MIT)
Box score (vs. Babson)

BOSTON – The University of Scranton women's volleyball team picked up a big victory to open the MIT Invitational on Friday, but had to settle for a split of its two matches in the event at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Royals (7-2) defeated MIT on its home court, 25-23, 25-23, 28-26 in their opening match, defeating a team that won 28 matches last year and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The loss was the first of the season for the Engineers.

But Scranton couldn't carry that momentum into its second match less than an hour later, falling to Babson, 25-18, 27-25, 25-18. The Royals will be back in action on Saturday when they face Colby at 11 a.m. and Endicott at 1 p.m. 

Scranton 3, MIT 0 (25-23, 25-23, 28-26)

In the win over MIT, the Royals rallied from an early deficit in the first set, took the second set in narrow fashion again, then held off a furious rally by the Engineers, including fighting off a match point, to close out the win in three sets. MIT had lost just one set in five matches before Friday.

Senior middle hitter Stephanie Klug (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) led Scranton with 11 kills and three blocks. Freshman outside hitter Kristin Kirwan (Park Ridge, N.J./Immaculate Heart Academy) had 10 kills and three digs, and senior outside hitter Lizzy Zimmermann (Livingston, N.J./Livingston) finished with 14 digs, eight kills, three service aces and a block.

The Royals also received 37 assists, five digs and five service aces from junior setter Brittany Cafiero (Merrick, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial). 

Babson 3, Scranton 0 (25-18, 27-25, 25-18)

In the loss to Babson, senior defensive specialist Kimberly Marino (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) had a team-high 11 digs, and junior libero Danielle Cafiero (Merrick, N.J./Kellenberg Memorial) added 10 digs.

Brittany Cafiero finished the match with 15 assists, giving her 1,315 for her career, which brings her within 97 of tying for seventh on the Royals' all-time career assists list.

--ROYALS--