Union, NJ – The SUNY Canton women's volleyball team swept its opening match and fell just short of a thrilling comeback in five sets in the nightcap on Friday evening at the Kean Invitational. The Kangaroos (16-3) cruised past the City College of New York (25-10, 25-11, 25-17) in its opening match before falling just short against host Kean University 3-2 (21-25, 13-25, 25-13, 26-24, 12-15).

In its opening match of the day SUNY Canton controlled play as it outscored CCNY 47 to 12 over three sets of play including holding a 34-10 edge in kills. The Roos hit .236 as a team compared to a -.085 attack percentage for the Beavers.

Reynolds

Jessica Reynolds (Oakville, Ontario) paved the way for the Roos with a match-high nine kills hitting .471. Morgan Bills (Walworth, NY) floored six kills, while Kelsy Cornish (Honeoye, NY) and Rachel Lowther (Woodbridge, VA) tallied five kills apiece. Cornish added a match-high nine digs, while Mackenzie Mynter (Churchville, NY) assisted a match-best 25 kills and Robyn Carroll (Bowmanville, Ontario) registered eight digs.

Despite producing more kills than Kean in the opening set of the second match (13-12) the hosts took the first, 25-21. The Cougars used an 11 kill, one error performance to cruise 25-13 in the second frame. The Roos got out to an impressive 8-0 lead in the third set and turned the tables on Kean with a 25-13 third stanza win.

Canton jumped out to a 15-10 lead in the fourth frame, but Kean responded with four straight points to get within 15-14. Out of a timeout called by Assistant Coach Danielle Swanston the Roos regained the momentum and scored six of the next eight points to open up a comfortable 21-16 lead. However, the Cougars proved tough on their home court rebutting with the next five points to tie the set at 21 apiece.

The teams traded a pair of points to knot it at 23 all. After the Cougars tallied the next point, Cornish came up with a big time kill to fight off match point and tie it once again at 24. A Kean hitting error put the Roos within set point and Cornish was able to floor the game-winning kill as SUNY Canton took a thrilling fourth set, 26-24.

The Roos used the momentum gained in the fourth frame to shoot out to a 5-1 start in the fifth and final set. The Cougars retaliated with eight of the next 12 points to tie it at 9-9. The teams traded three points each as it continued to be a back-and-forth battle at 12 all. Kean was able to rattle off three consecutive points to take the set and match 15-12, despite a tremendous comeback effort by the Roos.

Lindsay Bryer (Wilson, NY) had a phenomenal match for SUNY Canton recording her second double-double of the season with 11 kills and 16 digs. Reynolds added a team-high 13 kills and seven digs and Cornish put down nine kills to go with her 17 digs. Mynter dished out 32 assists along with nine digs and seven kills and Carroll dug up a match-high 18 balls.

The women's volleyball team is back in action Saturday for day two of the Kean Invitational. The Roos square off with Centenary College at 11:00 a.m. before a 1:00 p.m. tilt with Brooklyn College.