Box Score

SCRANTON - The sophomore tandem of Sofia Dedaj (Yonkers, N.Y./The Ursuline School) and Stephanie Margolies (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) both went into double-figures in kills on the evening, as The University of Scranton volleyball team collected a 3-1 (25-13, 14-25, 26-24, 25-17) victory over Vassar on Friday in the 2021 Scranton Invitational in the John Long Center.

To start things off, Scranton (2-0) came out on fire, as a long run in the middle of the first set put the Royals up for good on their way to a 25-13 victory. In the opening set victory, the Royals ended play with an 8-0 run to open up a close match (15-13) with Vassar.

But, in the second set, Vassar came back, rolling to an 11-point victory. In the third set, the Brewers looked poised to go up, 2-1, on the Royals, as they raced out to a 15-9 lead on Scranton early.

However, the Royals picked themselves up and slowly got back into the match. Down 19-15, Scranton went on a 5-1 spurt to tie the set up at 20-20, only to see Vassar come right back and take a 23-21 lead after scoring three out of four points on the Royals. Scranton came back to tie things up at 23-all, but Vassar scored a point to put themselves on the cusp of a third set win.

It was here that the Royals took over the set to regain all the momentum in the contest. First, freshman Maddie Orth (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) had a kill to tie the match back up at 24-24, then Margolies had a kill to put Scranton up, 25-24, On set point, Vassar had an attack error to end things, as the Royals grabbed a come-from-behind third set victory to take a 2-1 lead into the fourth.

There, the Royals pulled away late, as a 7-2 run broke open a tied set (13-13) and gave Scranton an insurmountable 20-15 lead. That edge was too much for Vassar to come back from, as the Royals coasted down the stretch to take their second win of the season in four sets.

Overall, Dedaj led the Royals attack in the victory with 13 kills, while Margolies posted her second straight double-digit kill game with 11. Margolies also went into double-digits once again in digs (15) and had a game-high seven service aces.

Elsewhere, seniors Eryn Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Westridge School For Girls) and Trinity Manning (Point Lookout, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) each had nine kills apiece, while junior Caileigh Cox (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) set up the strong Scranton offense all night finishing with 42 assists. On defense, senior libero Molly Dunfee (King of Prussia, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) ended the evening with 27 digs to lead the Royals, rounding out the top performances for Scranton.

The 2021 Scranton Invitational wraps up tomorrow, as the Royals will play twice. First, at 11 AM, Scranton entertains Western Connecticut State, then at 5 PM, the Royals finish off the weekend with a match against Lebanon Valley.

--ROYALS--