Wilmington Volleyball Hits Season Best .350 in 3-0 Sweep over Chestnut Hill

Wilmington Volleyball Hits Season Best .350 in 3-0 Sweep over Chestnut Hill

Copyright 2015; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. Photo of honory Wildcat Ava Hileman and the team after its JDRF Awareness Match. Photo by Frank Stallworth.

NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University women's volleyball team rarely trailed in a 3-0 sweep of Chestnut Hill, hitting a season high .350 as a team to exact revenge from an early season loss on Tuesday night at the WU Athletics Complex.

Set scores for the match were 25-15, 25-12, and 25-8.

The Wildcats (19-6, 12-2 CACC) only committed nine errors in the match, putting down 44 kills to hit .350 for the match. The defense allowed the offense to get quality swings, collecting 60 digs with three student-athletes in the double-digits. The defense at the net also picked up seven blocks in the match.

A 6-1 run early in the match put the Wildcats ahead 8-3. The teams traded points until 14-9 and the Wildcats rattled off five straight points to gain a 19-9 lead. An Alex Siolos service ace put the Wildcats up 21-11 before an Allison Briley kill brought the Wildcats to within two points of the set, 23-12. Erin Bistany gave the Wildcats set point before Briley finished off the set, 25-15, with another kill.

The Wildcats kept the momentum in the second set, despite losing the first point of the game. Trailing 1-0, the Wildcats used a Briley kill to spark a 13-0 run, using the strength of the Miranda Shaw serve to go up 13-1. The Griffins (9-17, 8-5 CACC) clawed back to as close as 14-8, but the Wildcats used runs of 5-1 and 9-2 to move ahead 23-10. Briley gave the team set points, 24-11, before Hannah Karas put the Wildcats ahead, 2-0, with a kill, 25-12.

The home team didn't cool down at all in the third set, as the Wildcats jumped to a quick 3-0 lead before another 9-1 spurt jolted the Green and White to a 12-3 lead. The Griffins ended the run with a point at 12-4, but then the Wildcats used the service game of Siolos to gain another 9-0 run to open a 21-4 lead. A block from Eile Harris and Briley gave the Wildcats set and match point, 24-6, before a Griffin error ended the match, 25-8.

Bistany led the offense with 12 kills while not committing an error on 19 swings, hitting .632 for the match. Briley, Siolos, and Kaitlin DiGiacinto all collected eight kills each, with DiGiacinto leading the trio with a .412 attack percentage. Miranda Shaw collected 31 assists in the match while Jenna Brown led the back row with 13 digs.

Siolos collected eight assists on the night, but her fifth assist was a milestone. She became the second player in the Wildcats' NCAA era to reach 2,000 career assists, becoming the first player to reach 2,000 career assists and 1,000 career digs. She is also 53 kills away from 1,000 for her career.

The Wildcats remain home for their next contest as well, welcoming Holy Family to the WU Athletics Complex on Thursday. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m.