Cedar Crest College Athletics

BALTIMORE, Md. – The Cedar Crest College volleyball team was swept by Notre Dame of Maryland University, 3-0, in a United East Conference match on Saturday afternoon.

The Gators won the match by set scores of 25-15, 25-17, and 25-16.

The Falcons started the first set on a 3-0 run, finished off by a kill from junior Ellise Everett (Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona). NDMU responded with a 10-0 run to build a 10-3 advantage. After a block by Everett to make the score 10-4, the Gators put together a 7-1 run to extend the lead to 17-5. NDMU pushed the margin to as many as 14, 22-8, following a kill by Gwen Abnett (). Cedar Crest closed the set on a 7-3 run, but it was the Gators coming out on top, 25-15.

The Falcons held a 7-5 lead in the beginning stages of the second set. Notre Dame then went on a 12-2 run to extend its margin to 17-9. Cedar Crest rattled off three consecutive points with the final point of the run coming on a kill from Everett to make the score 17-12. The Gators then outscored the Falcons 8-5 over the remainder of the frame to take it by the 25-17 score.

NDMU was up 7-5 in the early going of the third set and then went on a 12-3 run to push the score to 19-8. The Falcons cut into the deficit with a 6-1 spurt, capped off by a kill from graduate student Ziah Melton (Allentown, Pa./William Allen), to trim the score to 20-14. The Gators then finished on a 5-2 run to win the set 25-16 and the match in straight sets.

Senior Ciarra Bockstie (Nottingham, Md.) guided Notre Dame with a match-high nine kills to go along with one block and three digs.

Melton and Everett led Cedar Crest with seven kills apiece. Senior Akashia Johnson (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) followed with three and senior Liberty Jackson (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Gilbert (Ariz.)) had one. Sophomore Tianlly Davila (Frederick, Md./Governor Thomas Johnson) () pitched in 16 assist and three digs. Graduate student Rebekka Sanchez-Castro (Columbia, Md./Atholton) tallied two service aces and Everett had one. Everett recorded the lone block for the Falcons. Melton and sophomore Maiya Piccarreta (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone Area) tied for the team lead with eight digs each, Sanchez-Castro had four, Davila and senior Daja Jackson (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Gilbert (Ariz.)) added three each, L. Jackson recorded two digs, while Everett and Johnson closed the category with one dig apiece.

Cedar Crest (9-14 overall, 4-4 United East) will play host to Saint Elizabeth University in its next match on Tuesday, October 29 at 7:00 p.m. Notre Dame of Maryland University (14-9 overall, 5-3 United East) will remain home to face Penn State Berks on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.