Volleyball Splits on Opening Day of the 2014 Wildcat Regional Invitational

Volleyball Splits on Opening Day of the 2014 Wildcat Regional Invitational

The Wilmington University volleyball team split its pair of matches to open the 2014 Wildcat Regional Invitational on Friday, defeating Dowling, 3-2, before falling to Bentley, 301, in the night cap at the WU Athletics Complex.

Set scores for the match against Dowling were 17-25, 25-15, 15-25, 25-18, and 15-12.

Set scores for the match against Bentley were 23-25, 25-20, 20-25, and 17-25.

Alex Siolos again led the Wildcats in their victory over Dowling, securing her second triple-double of the season and third of her career. She put down 10 kills while adding a team high 23 assists and 12 digs.

Allison Briley led the attack with 14 kills with only three errors against the Golden Lions while Kaitlin DiGiacinto tallied 12 kills and nine digs.

The Wildcats were outhit, .158 to .140, in the match, but took advantage of 29 Dowling errors to claim the victory.

Tied 11-11 in the fifth set, the Wildcats rattled off four straight points, including two following a Dowling timeout, to gain the momentum. After allowing a point, DiGiacinto put down a termination for set and match point, giving the home team the win.

Wilmington couldn't carry the momentum from Dowling into the match against Bentley, hitting only .128 for the match. The Wildcats tied the match at 1-1 with a second set victory, hitting .256 in the game and siding-out against the Bentley serve 66 percent of the time. But it wasn't enough as Bentley came back and took sets three and four for the match.

DiGiacinto led the offense with 13 kills on 45 swings while Briley was the only other Wildcat to collect double digit kills with 11. Shelby HEnderon held down the back row with a team high 23 digs while DiGiacinto chipped in with 16 for the double-double.

Kasey Couch added 15 digs to go along with 19 assists while Jess Starr added 10 digs to round out the double digit figures defensively. Siolos led the team with 21 assists in the second match of the game.

Freshman Erin Bistany finished with nine kills on 17 swings, committing just two errors to lead the team with a .412 attack percentage. She also had a team high two solo blocks and chipped in two more block assists.

The Wildcats continue the 2014 Wildcat Regional Invitational on Saturday with two more matches throughout the day. The team opens Saturday's play with a 10 a.m. clash against Merrimack while finishing the tournament at 4 p.m. against Stonehill.

For more information on the 2014 Wildcat Regional Invitational, visit the official tournament home page