ERIE, Pa. – Ohio Dominican's volleyball team suffered a 3-0 (19-25, 22-25, 21-25) setback to Caldwell (N.J.) in its season-opener Friday at the Gannon Invitational.

The Panthers (0-1) hit .204 for the match, but allowed the Cougars (1-1) to hit .243, including a .368 clip in the opening set. Caldwell finished 2011 with a 26-5 record and won the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament.

ODU was paced offensively by freshman middle hitter Lauren Kraemar (Kettering, Ohio), who had eight kills in 17 attacks with one error for a .412 hitting percentage. Sophomore middle hitter Caitlin Kusan (Westerville, Ohio) also had eight kills and hit .333.

Freshman Darby Slavin (Columbus, Ohio) notched a double-double in her first collegiate contest with 14 assists and 11 digs, freshman setter Kelsey Fortney (Lorain, Ohio) finished with 13 assists and sophomore Bailey Barker (Muncie, Ind.) had a team-best 13 digs.

Overall, eight of the 10 players to appear in the match for ODU was either a freshman or sophomore.

The opening set was tightly contested early, with Caldwell's 5-2 lead being the biggest for either squad in the beginning. ODU took a 15-14 lead on a Cougar service error, but Caldwell went on to score the next six points to take a 20-15 advantage, and the Panthers would get no closer than four points down the stretch. The first set featured nine ties and seven lead changes.

In the second set, the Cougars used a 5-0 spurt to take a 10-5 lead, an advantage that they would eventually stretch to 16-9. The Panthers battled back, though, with Kraemer and Slavin combining on a block to cut it to 19-16, and Kraemer registering a kill to make it 20-18. Three errors by the Cougars made it a one-point game at 23-22, but Caldwell closed the set with consecutive kills to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Caldwell again jumped to a lead in the third set, going in front 9-4. Kills by freshman Tory Thompson (Quincy, Ohio) and Kraemer made it a 17-15 game, and a kill by Slavin kept ODU in it at 20-17, but the Cougars held off ODU's rally to take the match.

Ohio Dominican concludes play at the Gannon Invitational on Saturday with a pair of matches. ODU takes on Wisconsin-Parkside at noon, followed by a 5 p.m. tilt with Davis & Elkins (W. Va.).

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu