RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Junior outside hitter Hannah Chiswick (Pittstown, N.J./Delaware Valley) posted the highest single-match kill total by a Felician University women's volleyball player in nearly eight years, but the Golden Falcons fell to visiting Pace University, 3-2 (18-25, 25-22, 25-20, 15-25, 13-15), in non-conference action on Tuesday night at Job Gymnasium.

Felician (1-4) was playing its 2021 home opener. The matched marked the first regular-season intercollegiate athletics event held inside the new Wellness and Recreation Center on Felician's Rutherford campus.

Before a raucous home crowd, Chiswick finished with 27 kills and nine digs. Golden Falcon freshman opposite hitter Bridget Thompson (Houston, Texas/St. John XXIII Prep) accumulated 10 kills and nine digs in her collegiate debut, and senior outside Maddie Sloan (Caldwell, N.J./James Caldwell) totaled seven kills and 11 digs in three sets.

Junior outside Brielle Jones (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Palm Beach Gardens) topped the Pace offense with 17 kills and added nine digs. The setters received 13 kills and eight digs from sophomore outside Cydney Gardner (Snellville, Ga./Brookwood).

Felician forced a deciding set with a 25-20 Set 4 triumph. The Setters, however, raced out to a 5-0 fifth-set lead, spurred by a kill and a block from Gardner. A solo block from Jelena Vucic (Smederevo, Serbia/Gimnazija Smederevo) kept the hosts in the hunt, and, with Vucic on serve for the first time in the match, the Golden Falcons moved ahead, 12-11.

The Setters righted themselves with a Gardner kill. A Moyah Cameron (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Port Chester) block and an ace from Emily Cockell (Springfield, Mo./Kickapoo) brought Pace to the verge of victory. Chiswick saved one match point with a kill, but on the next rally, Gardner answered, ending the match two hours, 14 minutes, after the first service.

Pace (1-2) offset 15 service errors by compiling advantages of 8-3 in aces and 11-4 in blocks. Felician libero Alondra Diaz Sanchez (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Colegio de La Salle) turned in 25 digs and setter Miquela Martinez (Santa Fe, N.M./St. Michael's) added 20 assists and 18 digs.

The Felician record for kills in a match is 29 by Olivia Emerson at Concordia (N.Y.) College on Sept. 25, 2013. Amber Doran had 28 versus Chestnut Hill College on Oct. 17, 2009, and Keisha Milstrey owns a pair of 27-kill efforts.

The Golden Falcons are next in action on Saturday in Ettrick, Va. Felician will face host Virginia State University at 10 a.m. and Alderson-Broaddus University at noon.