Wilmington Volleyball Clinches Home Playoff Game with 3-1 Win Over Concordia

Wilmington Volleyball Clinches Home Playoff Game with 3-1 Win Over Concordia

The Wilmington University volleyball team bounced back after dropping the first set to earn a 3-1 victory against Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference North Division foe Concordia on Saturday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex.

Set scores for the match were 23-25, 25-21, 25-12, and 25-17.

With today's win and losses by Philadelphia and Holy Family, the Wildcats secured one of the top two seeds from the South Division for the upcoming CACC Tournament. The Wildcats will host the CACC Quarterfinal match scheduled for Tuesday, November 11.

The block came alive for the Wildcats (17-13, 13-4 CACC) in the third set and turned the match around, finishing with a 14-1 advantage at the net over the Clippers (4-15, 3-14 CACC).

Concordia battled back from a 21-16 deficit in the first set to score nine of the next 11 points to the first game. A kill from Allison Briley game the Wildcats a 23-21 advantage in the opening set, but the Clippers scored the final four points of the set to come back and stun the Wildcats.

The Clipper held an 18-14 lead in the second set as well before the Wildcats rattled off three straight and five of the next seven points to climb to within one at 20-19. A Samantha Kurtzke kill gave the Clippers a 21-19 lead, but the home team scored six consecutive points, ending with another Briley kill to tie the match, 1-1.

Three straight blocks early in the third set put the Wildcats ahead, 4-1, while three more blocks put the Wildcats up 10-6. A string of four straight points gave the Wildcats a 19-9 lead while four more consecutive points, capped by an ace from Erin Bistany gave the Wildcats set point, 24-11. A Kaitlin DiGiaincto kill put the Wildcats ahead, 2-1, by winning the third game, 25-12.

A quick 7-2 burst put the Wildcats in control of the fourth set. The Clippers battled to close to within 15-13, but the Wildcats received a kill from Bistany and back-to-back blocks to move ahead 18-13. Leading 20-16, the Wildcats scored the next two points and five of the final six points overall for the 25-17 set win. Eile Harris denied the Clippers Katharina Birgmeir for the final point of the match.

Alex Siolos finished with her 11th triple-double of the season, picking up 10 kills, a team high 23 assists, and 10 digs. Briley led all Wildcats with 13 kills, hitting .224 for the match. DiGiacinto was the final Wildcat with double digit kills, collecting 11 in the match.

Bistany hit a team high .273 for the match, totaling nine kills on 22 swings with only three errors. She also led the charge at the net, getting a hand on seven block assists. Angela Collins and Briley collected four block assists each while Harris added three block assists and led the match with three solo blocks.

DiGiacinto finished with a double-double by adding 20 digs while Briley's 18 digs also gave her a double-double. Shelby Henderson led the Wildcats with 22 digs.

The Wildcats have two regular season matches remaining and head to Holy Family on Tuesday for their final regular season road game of the year. Tuesday's match is scheduled for 7 p.m.