Copyright 2015; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. Photo by Frank Stallworth. Photo of Allison Briley vs. East Stroudsburg.
NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University volleyball team needed to make a big comeback in the nightcap to sweep the 2015 WilmU Tournament, defeating Merrimack, 3-0, and East Stroudsburg, 3-2, on Sunday at the WU Athletics Complex.
Set scores for the match against Merrimack were 25-17, 25-21, and 25-21.
Set scores for the match against East Stroudsburg were 17-25, 27-29, 25-22, 25-16, and 15-4.
The Wildcats (8-4) defeated all three other teams in the 2015 WilmU Tournament, also defeating Dominican on Saturday to win the tournament on their home court. The two wins on Sunday extends the team's winning streak to five consecutive matches.
The day started with the Wildcats hitting .295 offensively while holding Merrimack to a .085 attack percentage for the match. The Wildcats only committed six attack errors in the three sets while also picking up nine total blocks in the match.
Allison Briley led the attack with 10 kills on 27 attempts while not committing an error, hitting .370 for the match. She also picked up 10 digs for the lone double-double of the match. Shelby Henderson led the way with 14 digs while Miranda Shaw dished out 26 assists.
At the net, Eile Harris and Erin Bistany each tallied two solo blocks while Bistany added four block assists. Alex Siolos chipped in with three block assists as well.
The nightcap wasn't quite as easy for the Wildcats, as they fell behind East Stroudsburg, 2-0. The Wildcats jumped out to leads of 5-0 and 8-2 in the first set, but the Warriors battled back to take an 11-8 lead. The Wildcats didn't get any closer than three points the rest of the set.
The Wildcats were against set point in the second set, 24-22, but the Wildcats scored three straight points on three straight kills from Silos to get their own set point, 25-24. But the Warriors retaliated before taking back-to-back points at 27-27 to go ahead 2-0 in the match.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the third set before the Warriors battled all the way back to eventually tie the set as late as 21-21. The Wildcats went ahead on back-to-back attack errors by ESU before a block by Briana Cunha and Harris gave the Wildcats set point, 24-21. Two points later, Harris gave the home team life with a kill, 25-22.
The momentum carried into the fourth set for the Wildcats, as they opened a 12-8 lead. Leading 18-12, the Wildcats rattled off five straight points to widen the gap 23-13 before Siolos sent the match to a fifth a deciding set with a kill, 25-16.
Again it was all Wilmington in the fifth, as the home team scored six straight points to break a 1-1 tie. Leading 8-3, the Wildcats went on another 6-0 run to open a large lead at 14-3 before Siolos capped the comeback with a kill on match point.
The Wildcats again out-blocked its opponent, picking up 16 blocks against East Stroudburg. The Wildcats also collected eight service aces during the match and out-hit the Warriors, .146-.121.
Siolos and Harris ended the match with seven block assists and one solo block each in the match while Bistany finished with six block assists and one solo. Siolos also led the attack with 13 kills while picking up the double-double with 12 digs. Briley added 10 kills and a team high 22 digs while Bistany also picked up 10 kills in the match. Shaw dished out 31 assists and added 16 digs for the double-double.
After eight straight home games, in which the Wildcats went 6-2, the Wildcats take to the road for their next three matches. They return to Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference action in all three of those matches as well, starting at Chestnut Hill on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
