NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University volleyball team pushed Holy Family to the brink, but the Tigers escaped the WU Athletics Complex with a 3-2 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference victory on Wednesday night.
Set scores for the match for Holy Family were 25-16, 20-25, 25-10, 20-25, and 15-2.
The block kept the Wildcats (13-9, 7-3 CACC) in the contest, as they out-blocked the Tigers (14-5, 8-1 CACC), 14-6. The loss snapped a six-match winning streak for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats led 9-6 in the opening game, but four straight points sparked an 11-3 run for the Tigers, as they took over the set, 17-12. The Wildcats closed the gap to 22-16 with back-to-back points, but the Tigers took the match lead with a 25-16 first set win.
Leading 11-10 in the second set, the Wildcats took the game over with nine straight points on Rebecca Rawlinson's serve. Three blocks came during the run while Miranda Shaw and Angel Oliver gave the Wildcats a 20-10 lead with back-to-back kills. The Tigers saved four set points, but Caroline Wise evened the match, 1-1, with a kill, 25-20.
The third set was all Holy Family, as they raced out to an 8-2 lead before another three consecutive points made it 14-5. The Wildcats were within 17-9, but the Tigers scored five straight and eight of the final nine points to take the set, 25-10.
Needing a win to stay alive, the Wildcats used a 5-0 spurt late in the fourth set to take command. Tied at 17-17, Oliver sparked the 5-0 run with a kill before back-to-back errors gave the Wildcats a 22-17 lead. The team's traded the next six points, with Jill Braunsberg keeping the Wildcats alive with a kill on set point, 25-20.
The Wildcats couldn't carry the momentum into the fifth set however, as the Tigers rattled off five straight points to take a 7-1 lead. They also scored the final eight points of the fifth to take the match, 15-2.
Mandy Behiels led the Wildcagts with nine kills while Oliver and Andrews each added five kills. Braunsberg dished out 14 assists while Shaw added 12 helpers. Jenna Brown led the back row with 27 digs while Braunsberg collected 16 and Shaw added 11 more.
At the net, Oliver had a hand on eight block assists while Rawlinson had four block assists and two solo blocks. Braunsberg chipped in with five block assists while Caroline Wise added four block assists as well.
The Tigers collected 60 kills to the Wildcats' 29. The Tigers also had 15 service aces and out-dug the Wildcats, 110-86.
The Wildcats will look to get back to their winning ways when they head to Felician for a CACC cross divisional contest on Saturday. The first serve is set for 1:00 p.m.
