ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The University of Scranton volleyball team (25-8) battled until the very end, but fell short in a 3-0 loss to the Wesleyan (Conn.) Cardinals (18-6) in NCAA Tournament First Round action on Friday night at Clark Gymnasium on the campus of RIT.

Wesleyan advances to play the host Tigers in Saturday's second round match, while the Royals see their season come to an end with an impressive 25-8 record.

This marked the fifth all-time NCAA Tournament appearance for Scranton and their first since 2005.

The Royals were hot out of the gate in the first set and a service ace from freshman Maddie Orth (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) made it an 8-2 lead for the time being. Wesleyan rallied with eight straight points to take the lead and eventually led 18-12, but Scranton stormed back to take a 21-20 edge before the Cardinals scored five of the final six points for the 25-22 win. In the second set, the Cardinals, out of the NESCAC, took a 10-2 lead in the early stages and never looked back en route to the 25-14 victory in set two.

The third and final set proved to be a back and forth battle as the two teams traded points for most of the set before Scranton tallied three straight points capped by a block assist from senior Trinity Manning (Point Lookout, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) and sophomore Grace Kane (Cranford, N.J./Union Catholic) to take a 24-21 lead. However, the Royals just could not quite put away the pesky Cardinals in the set and things were tied at 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29. Sophomore Stephanie Margolies (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) slammed home a kill for a 30-29 Royals lead, but three straight points from the Cardinals sealed the match with a 32-30 win.

Manning and Margolies paced the Royals with 11 kills apiece on the night, while junior Caileigh Cox (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) capped her All-Region campaign with 28 assists. Defensively, senior Molly Dunfee (King of Prussia, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) had a team-best 10 digs.

Maddie Kurke led the Cardinals with 21 kills on the night and Grace Dennis added 36 assists.

Scranton's 2021 roster featured three seniors in Dunfee, Manning and Eryn Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Westridge School for Girls).

--ROYALS--