Volleyball Makes it Five Straight with Quick 3-0 Sweep at Dominican

Copyright 2018; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. Photo by Frank Stalworth. September 25, 2018 vs. Goldey-Beacom.
Copyright 2018; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. Photo by Frank Stalworth. September 25, 2018 vs. Goldey-Beacom.

ORANGEBURG, N.Y. - - The Wilmington University volleyball team held Dominican to a negative .035 hitting percentage, easily taking the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference match, 3-0, on Friday night inside the Hennessey Center.

Set scores for the match were 25-11, 25-12, and 25-19.

The Wildcats (12-8, 6-2 CACC) won their fifth match in a row on Friday, picking up 35 digs and six blocks while the Chargers (2-14, 2-6 CACC) could only muster 19 kills. The Wildcats' service game was on point on Friday, collecting 13 aces in the match.

Wilmington raced out to a 7-1 lead in the opening set. Four straight points on Jill Braunsberg serve put the Wildcats in front 13-3 before a Rebecca Rawlinson kill started another 4-0 spurt to give the Wildcats set point. Bailey Andrews gave the Wildcats the 1-0 lead with a kill, 25-11.

Trailing 2-1 in the second set, the Wildcats rattled off 10 straight on Mandy Behiels' serve to take an 11-2 lead. The Warriors closed the gap to as close as 16-12, but the Wildcats didn't give up another point in the game, on the strength of Jenna Brown's service game. A Behiels kills gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead, 25-12. The Wildcats hit a match high .368 in the second set with 10 kills and only three errors on 19 attempts.

The Wildcats jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third set and used another long run to take control of the game. Angel Oliver started a 7-0 run with a kill while Caroline Wise gave the Wildcats a 16-6 lead with a kill of her own. The Warriors got to within 17-15 and even closer at 20-19 before the Wildcats put the match away. Back-to-back kills from Jill Braunsberg gave the Wildcats a 23-19 lead before a Rawlinson ace and an Oliver kill ended the match, 25-19.

Behiels led the Wildcats with game highs of 10 kills and nine digs. Oliver had seven kills while hitting .400 for the match. Braunsberg dished out 16 assists while adding eight digs and Rawlinson led the way with a solo block and three block assists.

The Wildcats have a quick turnaround for their next contest, as they host CACC North Division leading Nyack on Saturday to begin the 2018 Wilmington University Homecoming festivities. The first serve is set for 11:00 a.m.