Box Score

MECHANICSBURG, Pa - A busy weekend for The University of Scranton volleyball team got off to a slow start on Friday night at Messiah, as the host Falcons collected a 3-1 victory over the Royals in non-conference action (23-25, 25-18, 18-25, 14-25).

With the defeat, the Royals dropped to 19-4 overall, while Messiah improved to 14-8 with the victory.

To start, Messiah got off to a strong start in the match by, scoring the final few points of play to pull out a 25-23 win to take a 1-0 lead in the match. In the second set, however, Scranton came back with a vengeance, opening a 20-14 lead late in the set and never looking back in a 25-18 victory that knotted the match up at 1-1.

But, Messiah rolled from the start in both the third and fourth sets, opening up insurmountable late leads on Scranton in each game to take a 3-1 victory in the match. 

Overall in the defeat, senior Trinity Manning (Point Lookout, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) had nine kills to lead the attack, while three players had eight kills, apiece, - junior Carah Vitkus (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac), sophomore Stephanie Margolies (Westfield, N.J./Westfield), and senior Eryn Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Westridge School for Girls).

On defense, the Royals did about all they could to combat a strong Messiah attack, as four players had double-digit digs, paced by Margolies with 19 (a season-best).

Senior Molly Dunfee (King of Prussia, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) added 15 digs, freshman Kaelie Chung (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains Fanwood) had 11 digs, and junior Caileigh Cox (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) finished with 10 digs. Cox also continued her great season setting up the Royals attack, as she finished with 33 in the defeat. And, up front, Boken had five total blocks, one of which was of the solo variety.

Messiah was led in the win by Mackenzie Feight, who had 16 kills.

The University of Scranton volleyball team returns to action on Saturday, as they travel to Franklin & Marshall for two matches. First, Scranton takes on Swarthmore at 2:30 p.m., which is followed by a match with F&M at 4 p.m.

--ROYALS--