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NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University volleyball team pulled its Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference record even with a 3-1 victory over Chestnut Hill on Wednesday night at the WU Athletics Complex.
Set scored for the match were 25-20, 21-25, 25-20, and 25-20.
With the win, the Wildcats are now 4-11 overall and 2-2 in conference play.
Tied 13-13 in the first set, the Wildcats scored four straight with a kill by Kate Bushong, a Brice Hansen ace, a block by Kacey Afrrunti and Jess Connelly, and a kill by Affrunti to take a 17-13 lead. But the Griffins came right back to tie the set, 17-17, with a run of their own. The Wildcats took the lead for good with a Griffin service error. Now leading 22-20, Brice Hanse started a 3-0 run to end the set with a kill. Elly Collins put down an ace and then Kacey Affrunti won the set, 25-20, with a kill as well.
The Wildcats were the ones to fight back and tie the second set, 13-13, and again as late as 20-20. But the Griffins took the game late, going on a 5-1 run to end the game and tie the match, 1-1.
The third set was another close battle, with the teams tied at 17-17. A 4-1 run sparked the Wildcats to the third set victory, scoring the final three points of the set on kills from heather Pedrick and Brice Hansen, and then a final ace from Pedrick to win, 25-20.
Chestnut Hill came out hot in the fourth set, jumping out to a 7-2 lead. The Wildcats began to claw back, using a 4-0 run capped by a Shannen Litten ace to tie the set, 12-12. The Griffins didn't back away though, going on their own 5-2 run to retake a 17-14 lead, looking to tie the match. Trailing 18-16, the Wildcats rattled off six consecutive points, getting kills from Jess Connelly and Katie Bushong, and an ace from Elly Collins to grab a 22-18 lead. Chestnut Hill scored the next two points to get within 22-20, but that would be as close as they would get, as back-to-back kills by Heather Pedrick and a final termination by Jess Connelly put the match away, 25-20.
Heather Pedrick put down 13 kills while hitting .235, adding a career best 29 digs and two aces. Brice Hansen also had 13 kills, hitting .250 for the match while adding seven digs. Jess Connelly finished with nine kills while Katie Bushong dished out 34 assists and added 13 digs. Elly Collins ended with 12 digs and three aces while Ki'i Rilveria was the final Wildcat with double digit digs, collecting 10.
The Wildcats remain home for their next match, as they welcome Dominican to the WU Athletics Complex on Saturday to kickstart Homecoming. The first serve is set for 11:00 a.m. against the Chargers.