BRONXVILLE, N.Y. - - The middle hitters showed up to play for the Wilmington University volleyball team as they led the Wildcats to a sweep of Concordia on the road in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference cross division action on Thursday night.
Set scores for the match were 25-20, 25-23, and 25-20.
Both middles Eile Harris and Rebecca Rawlinson hit above .600 for the match, leading the Wildcats (12-17, 8-8 CACC) to the victory and keeping pace in the CACC South Division. With the win, the Wildcats are now only one game out of the fourth and final playoff spot, trailing Goldey-Beacom and Georgian Court by one full game.
It didn't take long for a milestone to be reached on Thursday night, as the first point of the match resulted in the Wildcats' Miranda Shaw's 2,000th career assist. She is the third Wildcat in program era to reach 2,000 assists, now with 2,016 for her career.
Four of Harris' and Rawlinson's kills came in the first set each, as the Wildcats used a 7-2 run in the set to break a 10-10 tie. The Clippers (4-13, 4-12 CACC) closed the gap to within 21-18 before Mandy Behiels put down back-to-back kills for the 23-18 lead. The Clippers answered again with back-to-back points before a service error and a Jill Braunsberg kill gave the Wildcats the game, 25-20.
A 6-0 run in the middle of the second set put the Wildcats up 14-7. The Clippers ran off four straight to get to within 16-13 before the Wildcats scored four of the next six points to regain a 20-15 lead. Concordia wouldn't go away easily though, as they scored six straight en route to an 8-2 run to take a 23-22 lead. Rawlinson put down a kill before a bad set gave the Wildcats set point. Rawlinson and Braunsberg got their hands on an attack, picking up the block for the 2-0 lead, 25-23.
Concordia jumped out to a 7-4 lead in the third set before the Wildcats rattled off four straight en route to a 6-1 run to take a 10-8 advantage. Still leading 19-17, the Wildcats went on a 3-0 spurt to lead 22-17 before a kill from Shaw gave the Wildcats match points, 24-19. Brittany Ford ended the set and the match, 25-20, with a kill.
Harris led the Wildcats with 12 kills while only committing one error on 18 swings for a .611 attack percentage. Rawlinson finished with eight kills while also only committing one error on 10 swings for a .700 attack percentage. The Wildcats hit .267 as a team for the match.
Shaw finished with 17 assists while Braunsberg added 12 assists. Behiels was the only Wildcat with double figure digs, picking up 11 on the match. Rawlinson added the lone solo block for the Wildcats, adding six block assists as well. Braunsberg added four block assists while Emma Kongevold chipped in with three block assists.
The Wildcats have three CACC matches left to make up the one-game deficit to the Lightning and Lions. Next up for the Wildcats is USciences on Saturday at the WU Athletics Complex for Senior Day. First serve is set for 12:00 p.m.