Box Score
ARLINGTON, Virginia (Nov. 9, 2016) – The third trip to the ECAC volleyball playoffs in Rutgers University-Camden history started out on a good note for the third-seeded Scarlet Raptors. In the end, however, second-seeded Lebanon Valley College fought back to take a 3-1 victory in the first round of the ECAC Division III Volleyball Championships held here at Marymount University.
The Flying Dutchmen (22-10) ended the Raptors' season with a 16-25, 25-15, 25-13, 25-21 victory. Rutgers-Camden, which reached the ECAC playoff for the second straight year and only the third time overall, including its initial appearance in 2012, closes its season at 16-16.
Lebanon Valley College will play a quarterfinal match at 11 a.m. on Saturday at top-seeded host Marymount University. The Saints (24-5) swept fourth-seeded Penn State-Altoona, 3-0, in the other first-round matchup Wednesday, winning by scores of 25-13, 25-17 and 25-19.
In the opening set, Rutgers-Camden rattled off the last nine points after the score was tied, 16-16. Freshman outside hitter
Jordan Erskine (Barnegat, NJ/Barnegat) notched five kills in the set, while senior outside hitter
Caitlin Marchlowitz (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) and freshman outside hitter
Jamie Mulligan (New Gretna, NJ/Pinelands Regional) both added three kills. A pair of freshmen,
Meghan Gallagher (Sicklerville, NJ/Paul VI) and
Caitlynn Marcano (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown) added seven and five assists, respectively. Marcano also notched three digs, while Gallagher added two. Senior libero
Melanie Kaiser (Somerdale, NJ/Sterling) collected five digs.
The Flying Dutchmen, who outlasted the Scarlet Raptors in the next three sets, were led by 18 kills from sophomore
Jess Attieh (Allentown, PA/Bethlehem Catholic).
Erskine led the Raptors with 12 kills and a .391 hitting percentage.
Jamie Mulligan added 10 kills and Marchlowitz had six. Marchlowitz, who was playing in the 121st and final match of her four-year career, tied the program's all-time record for matches, which was set by
Olivia Rowland (2012-15). Marchlowitz added four assists, three aces and 13 digs in her final Scarlet Raptor appearance.
Gallagher and Marcano both finished with 17 assists, while Kaiser had 21 digs. Kaiser's digs closed her stellar career with 1,662 digs, the second-highest total in program history.
Kaiser and Marcano finished fifth and sixth, respectively, among the program lists for single-season leaders, as Kaiser closed the season with 490 digs and Marcano had 487 assists.
