ASTON, Pa. – The Cedar Crest College volleyball team was handed a 3-0 loss by Stockton University on Friday night in the Falcons' opening match at the Knights Invitational, hosted by Neumann University.

The Ospreys took the match by set scores of 25-15, 25-20, and 25-17.

After the teams traded the first four points of the first set, Stockton strung together a 7-0 run to stretch the lead to 9-2. The Ospreys pushed the margin to 11, 18-7, following a kill from first-year Nicole Palmer (East Islip, N.Y.). Cedar Crest would get within nine two different times in the late stages of the set, the last being after an attack error from Stockton to make the score, 19-10. The Ospreys responded with four-straight points to extend the lead to 13 and they held off a late charge by the Falcons to capture the frame, 25-15.

Stockton doubled up Cedar Crest in the early going of set number two, 8-4, but a 4-0 run from the Falcons evened the score at 8-all. The Ospreys scored three points in a row and then later in the stanza, Cedar Crest would pull even at 15 with a 4-0 run, finished off by an attack error from Stockton. After a kill from senior Ava Grapsy (Macungie, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) to put the Falcons in front, 18-17, the Ospreys closed on an 8-2 run to take the second set by a 25-20 score.

The Falcons grabbed an early 5-1 advantage in the third set, and they extended the margin to six (9-3) after an attack error by Stockton. The Ospreys went on a 6-0 run, capped off by a kill from first-year McKenna Ritchie (Newark, Del.) to tie the frame at nine. The middle of the set remained tight with the squads being tied at 14, following a kill from junior Ashley Carkhuff (Hackettstown, N.J.). Stockton tallied three more points in a row to increase the score to 17-14. The Falcons cut the deficit to two (19-17), but the Ospreys finished the frame on a 6-0 run to win the set 25-17, and to take the match in straight sets.

Sophomore Ellise Everett (Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona) guided Cedar Crest with five kills. Grapsy followed with four kills, two blocks, one dig, and one assist. Senior Maddison Minyo (Covington, Pa./North Penn-Mansfield) pitched in four kills, two blocks, one dig, and one assist. First-year Nikki Blair (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) handed out a team-high nine assists while classmate Leilani Yang (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge) recorded eight assists, three digs, and two service aces. Senior Rebekka Sanchez Castro tallied a team-high eight digs.

Cedar Crest (4-3 overall) will return to the court at the Knights Invitational on Saturday, September 16 against the host Neumann University at 10:00 a.m., followed by a matchup with Widener University at noon. Stockton (5-5 overall) will square off against Messiah University at noon and Neumann University at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.

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