WILMINGTON, Del. - - Trailing two sets to one to their crosstown rivals, the Wilmington University volleyball team came back to stun Goldey-Beacom, 3-2, in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest on Tuesday night at the Joseph West Jones Center.
Set scores for the match were 25-17, 28-30, 19-25, 25-8, and 15-11.
The win keeps the Wildcats (11-17, 7-8 CACC) alive in the CACC South Division, splitting the season series with the Lightning (11-16, 9-7 CACC). After tonight's results, the Wildcats are 1.5 games behind Goldey-Beacom and Georgian Court for the fourth and final playoff spot.
The Wildcats had the second fewest errors (11) in a match on the season, and by far the fewest errors in a five-set match on the year. The only game in which they had fewest errors in a match (9) was a three set sweep of Dominican on October 14.
After taking the first set, 25-17, the Lightning came back to take the second set in extra points. The Wildcats had match point in the second at 26-25, and again at 28-27, but the Lightning fought back each time. The Lightning then took the final three points of the third set to take a 2-1 lead, 25-19.
The Wildcats came out in a fury in the fourth set, turning a 5-4 deficit into a 10-5 advantage with six straight points. Another three point spurt put the Wildcats up 13-6 before they took control of the match with a 11-0 run, spanning one Goldey-Beacom timeout, to take a 24-7 lead. Emma Kongevold put down a kill to tie the match, 2-2, at 25-8.
The fifth set was more closely contested, as the Wildcats used a 3-0 run to take a slight 4-3 lead. The teams traded the next five points before the Lightning took a slight 9-7 lead. Mandy Behiels carried a 3-0 run for the Wildcats, putting down all three kills to gain a 10-9 lead. The teams traded the next three points before an Erin Bistany termination gave the Wildcats momentum. Behiels then served up an ace before a ball handling error gave the Wildcats set and match point at 14-11. A Lightning error put the match away, 15-11.
The Wildcats hit .305 for the night, including a match best .538 in the fourth set. They also collected a high of 16 kills to three errors in the second set. They only committed two errors combined in the fourth and fifth sets to make the comeback.
Behiels led the offensive charge with 15 kills on 36 swings, only committing three errors for a .333 attack percentage. She matched a team high 15 digs for the double-double. Rebecca Rawlinson put down nine kills on 15 swings with only one errors for a .533 hitting percentage, adding three solo and three block assists. Kongevold also put down nine kills while hitting .438 and Eile Harris led the team with five kills on eight swings without an error for a .625 attack percentage.
Miranda Shaw dished out a team high 23 assists, getting ever so close to career number 2,000. She now stands at 1,999 career assists as a junior. She also added 10 digs for the double-double. Jill Braunsberg added 22 assists and 12 digs for another double-double for the Wildcats. Addalyn Flores tied Behiels for the team lead with 15 digs.
The Wildcats will catch up to everyone else's 16 CACC games played with a match on Thursday at Concordia. They will take on the Clippers in a cross divisional matchup starting at 5:00 p.m. in Bronxville, New York.
