NEWARK, Del. - - The streak continues.
Make it nine consecutive victories for the Wilmington University volleyball team as the Wildcats defeated Georgian Court University, 3-0, on Friday night at the WU Athletics Complex to remain undefeated in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference.
The win was the fifth straight win for the Wildcats (19-4, 11-0 CACC) over Georgian Court (9-12, 6-5 CACC) in the all-time series, dating back to a three-match sweep last season and a victory earlier this year.
Set scores for the match were 25-15, 25-18 and 27-25.
Two big runs were key for the Wildcats in the first set, as the home team jumped out to a 5-0 lead on the serve of sophomore Kasey Couch. Now with the lead at 16-11, the Wildcats rode the back of Nicole Wiechecki for seven consecutive points as the senior collected five of the points via the service ace. Katie Shorter game the team set point with a kill, and took the lead on a Lion service error, 25-15.
A four point swing in the middle of the second set allowed the Wildcats to move ahead, 2-0, in the match, opening up a commanding 19-13 lead in the game. The Wildcats scored four straight and seven of nine points to go from 15-13 to 22-15, causing the Lions to use their second timeout of the set. Another kill by Shorter put the set at 24-18, and the Wildcats moved ahead 2-0 in the match as the Lions setter Francheska Cedres dump attempt hit the net for set point.
The Wildcats went down early in the third set, as head coach Kim Huggins-Habbert called a timeout with her team down 7-1. Still trailing 9-3, the Wildcats put back-to-back points together for the first time in the third set, and went on to win eight of the next nine points overall to take an 11-10 lead, forcing Georgian Court into a timeout.
Again trailing 18-17, the Wildcats put together six consecutive points to take the lead at 22-18. Brooke Foskey and Wiechecki picked up kills in the run while Kaitlin DiGiacinto added two aces to grab the lead. But the Lions did not roll over, as they battled back to tie the set at 23-23. The Wildcats needed three match points to finally put the Lions away, as the teams went to extra points before back-to-back kills from Alex Siolos and DiGiacinto ended the set and the match in favor of the home team.
DiGiacinto led the Wildcats with 10 kills while Shorter finished with nine on 12 swings and a match high .750 attack percentage. Brittany Biddle added four terminations, but led the team with two solo blocks and four block assists on the defensive side of the ball. Wiechecki tied a match high with 11 digs.
Wilmington has little time for rest, as it turns around and heads to Felician on Saturday for another CACC matchup. The Wildcats put their perfect conference record and nine match overall win streak on the line starting at 1 p.m.
