MADISON, NJ—Former Freedom Conference rival FDU-Florham handed The University of Scranton its third straight setback, 3-0, Wednesday evening.

The Royals hung tough in the first set, dropping a narrow 25-23 decision, but the wheels came off for Scranton, committing more errors (16) than kills (9) in losing the final two sets, 25-17 and 25-13.  FDU-Florham, now 4-3, took advantage of the Royals' inability to keep the ball in the court and hit .375 in the second set and .406 in the third to win going away.

Junior outside hitter Jenell McFadden (Springfield, Pa./Merion Mercy Academy) led the Royals, now 2-3, with five kills and freshman outside hitter Julia Crilly (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute), sophomores Michaela McCrudden (Fort Washington, Pa./Mt. St. Joseph Academy) and Katie Newman (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa), and senior outside hitter Kelly Zimmermann (Livingston, NJ/Livingston) contributed three apiece.

Junior defensive specialist Marissa Every (East Norriton, Pa./Mt. St. Joseph Academy) finished with a season-high 18 digs for Scranton, which will host Centenary College (NJ) and Clarkson on Friday, September 9, in the opening round of the Scranton Invitational at the Long Center at 4:00 and 8:00 p.m., respectively.  On Saturday, the Royals will take on Ramapo College (NJ) at 11:00 a.m. and defending champion Pitt-Bradford at 3:00 p.m.

Sophomore middle hitter Helena Riede (Haworth, NJ/Northern Valley Demarest) and junior outside hitter Chelsea Hoeffler (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) paced the Devils with nine kills apiece freshman outside hitter Momi Mariani (Kaneoue, HI/Moanalua), senior libero Marta Matera (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) and Hoeffler combined for 46 of FDU's 59 digs.

Scranton also received four blocks from sophomore middle hitter Kelly Nolan (Pearl River, NY/Albertus Magnus) and junior setters Juli Woods (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) and Emily Keim (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) each finished with seven assists.