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NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University volleyball team opened its Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference slate with a sweep of South Division rival Holy Family, 3-0, on Tuesday night at the WU Athletics Complex.
Set scores for the match were: 25-20, 25-15, and 25-15.
The Wildcats (6-5, 1-0 CACC) jumped out to a seven-point lead in the first set, 14-7, with a kill from Brice Hansen. But the Tigers (2-10, 0-2 CACC) fought back and brought the game to as close as 17-15. The Wildcats settled the Tiger run with a 3-0 spurt of their own, but again the Tigers had an answer to claw their way to within a single point, 20-19. Now leading 21-20, the Wildcats turned a Tigers' service error in a 4-0 run to close out the set, getting kills from Karalyn Osborne and Cailyn Smiley, and then an Elly Collins ace to win 25-20.
The Wildcats again jumped out to a large lead early in the second set, as kills from Shannen Litten and Cailyn Smiley made it 12-2. The Tigers battled back and hung as close as within four points as late as 17-13 before the Wildcats put the set away. Back-to-back kills from Smiley and Litten gave the Wildcats a 22-13 lead and then Smiley ended the set with another kill, 25-15.
Wilmington didn't begin to pull away from the Tigers until midway through the third set, as the Tigers had it as close as 15-12. Alex Serna and Smiley put down kills to force the Tigers into a timeout and another Elly Collins ace made it 18-12. The Tigers picked up a point but then a Shannen Litten kill sparked a 5-0 run as the Wildcats led 23-13. Cailyn Smiley put down another termination for match point and then a Tigers' attack error gave the Wildcats the match, 25-15.
Cailyn Smiley led the offense with 13 kills while hitting .242 and collecting a double-double with 13 digs. Brice Hansen had 10 kills and 11 digs and Katie Bushong had 34 assists and 12 digs for double-doubles as well. Shannen Litten finished with eight kills while hitting .294 to go with six digs and four blocks. Elly Collins added 16 digs and two aces for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats remain in the CACC with their next match, as they travel to Chestnut Hill on Thursday night. The first serve against the Griffins is set for 7:00 p.m. inside Sorgenti Arena.