SCRANTON, Pa. – The Union College women's volleyball team started play at the Scranton Invitational on Friday evening, dropping a 3-0 (25-14, 28-26, 25-21) match to Rowan University at the University of Scranton's John Long Center.
 
Senior Shannon McGrath led Union (8-4) with eight kills, followed by sophomores Kayla Martinez Cartagena and Georgia Pinciaro with seven kills apiece. Senior Georgia Pool recorded a team-leading 17 digs and sophomore Allie Kronenberg chipped in 26 assists, seven digs, two aces and four kills.
 
Jessica Smart put down a match-best 17 kills and Abigail Chadwick added 12 kills for Rowan (8-2).
 
The Profs used a 10-1 run to break open a close first frame and cruised to an opening-set win. Union led for a large portion of the second stanza and built up a 20-16 advantage after a McGrath kill, but five straight Rowan points brought the Profs back into the set. Union fought off two set points and eventually earned a set point of its own at 26-25, but a Garnet Charger error and two kills by Hutton Cordrey allowed Rowan to escape with the two-set lead.
 
Rowan jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the third set and Union could never fully recover. The Garnet Chargers got back within a point on five occasions before finally knotting the score at 21, but Rowan responded with four straight points to finish off the set and the match.
 
The Profs finished the match hitting .242 (47-14-124), while the Garnet Chargers ended the evening at .149 (35-17-121).
 
Union will be back in action tomorrow with two matches, taking on Eastern University at 1:30 p.m. and the host Royals at 6:30 p.m.