Copyright 2016; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. File photo of Brown against Nyack, taken by Frank Stallworth.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - The Wilmington University volleyball team earned a much needed Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division victory at Holy Family, 3-1, at the Campus Center Gym on Friday night to remain alive in the playoff chase.
Set scores for the night were 25-17, 17-25, 25-21, and 25-13.
The win moves the Wildcats (9-15, 6-9 CACC) to within three games of the Tigers (12-13, 9-6 CACC) and the fourth and final playoff spot awarded to the South Division for the CACC Tournament. Both the Wildcats and Tigers now have four CACC matches remaining.
The Wildcats got off to a fast start in the match, not committing an error while putting down 11 kills in the first set. The Wildcats kept the ball in the court for the majority of the match, only committing nine errors in the match, as opposed to the Tigers' 34 errors.
The Wildcats used a 5-0 run to jump out in front, 14-7, and never looked back in the opening game. A Rebecca Rawlinson kill put the visitors up 21-15 before Allison Briley followed with a kill at 23-15. Jill Braunsberg finished off the set with a kill from Miranda Shaw at 25-17.
Trailing 4-0 in the second set, the Tigers scored 11 of the next 14 points to take an 11-7 lead. The Wildcats battled back with a 9-3 run of their own to move in front, 16-14, but the Tigers answered with eight straight points regain command. They finished out the set on an 11-1 run to tie the match, 1-1.
The turning point came in the third set following the unfortunate injury of a Holy Family student-athlete. With the Tigers leading, 15-14, the home team became disorientated with their rotation following the injury, leading to a pair of points for the Wildcats, including the point to end the game, 25-21.
The Wildcats carried the momentum into the fourth set, jumping out to leads of 5-1 and 12-3. Back-to-back blocks gave the Wildcats a 15-5 lead before a Jenna Brown ace and back-to-back Tiger errors gave the Wildcats a large margin at 18-5. The Tigers closed the gap to within 22-12 and 23-13, but Emma Kongevold gave the Wildcats match points before a Tiger error ended the match, 25-13.
Briley led the Wildcats with 10 kills while hitting .200 for the match. She added 11 digs for the double-double while teammate Jenna Brown led the way with 13 digs. Both Shaw and Braunsberg dished out 12 assists while Eile Harris led the defense at the net with two solo and two block assists for four total blocks.
The Wildcats look to keep the momentum going when they return home to close out the month of October on Saturday night. The team hosts North Division foe Caldwell at the WU Athletics Complex on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.