JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The Cabrini University women's volleyball team finished its season on Sunday as the runner-up in the 2022 ECAC Championship tournament, falling to top-seeded Kean 3-1.
The Cavs (22-13) advanced to the title match earlier in the day with a hard-fought 3-2 win over PSU-Behrend.
For their efforts on the weekend, graduate libero Gina Custer and outside hitter Hannah Dalton were both named to the all-tournament team.
Cabrini 3, PSU-Behrend 2
Set scores in the semifinal were 25-15, 21-25, 19-25, 25-14, 15-13.
Individually, Dalton had 22 kills with sophomore outside hitter Sam Heenan netting 11. Dalton also had three service aces as did Custer.
Junior middle blocker Lily Baynum had five blocks in the semifinal, accounting for half of the nine total.
Graduate setter Lexi Conte had 19 assists, as did senior setter Melanie Cotes Rivera.
Defensively, Custer had 31 digs with Dalton getting 15.
Trailing 7-5 in the first set, Cabrini went on a 5-0 run to up 10-7, as sophomore outside hitter Makenzie Griffith had a kill to start the rally followed by a ace from Hannah. From there, Cabrini led the rest of the set, pulling away at 19-11 after the Lions got back within two.
In set two, leading 6-3, Cabrini saw PSU-Behrend turn the tables and go on a run of its own, scoring seven straight points to take a 10-6 advantage. The Cavs would get back within two, but, could not get any closer.
Set 3 saw Cabrini storm out to a 7-1 lead, before the Lions scored the next nine points to go up 10-7 and they never looked back. Facing elimination in set 4, Cabrini scored five of the first six points of the set and went up by as much as ten.
Set 5 saw PSU-Behrend lead 12-10, before Cabrini got back-to-back kills by Griffith to tie the score at 12. After a service error by Cabrini, Griffith got another kills to tie the score at 13-all. An attack error by PSU-Behrend gave the Cavs match points, which Heenan got on a kill.
Kean 3, Cabrini 1
Set scores were 25-20, 21-25, 25-19, 25-18.
Dalton tied for the match high with 14 kills, while Heenan had 13. Cotes-Rivera had three aces, with sophomore middle blocker Amanda Purdy and Griffith each getting two blocks.
Conte had 19 assists with Cotes-Rivera getting 13.
Dalton finished with 16 digs, with Custer adding in 13.
Cabrini led early in set 1, 8-6, as Cotes-Rivera had three straight service aces. The two teams would trade the lead back and forth before Kean went on a 5-0 scoring jaunt to go up for good, 16-12.
Set two saw Cabrini trail by one early, 1-0, then take the lead for good and go up by as much as five. In set three, Kean broke open a 18-all tie with three straight points to go up 21-18.
In the fourth and final set, Kean jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Cabrini would answer back to pull within one at 9-8. However, the Cavs would not get any closer.
