NEWARK, Del. - - A strong defensive effort at the net and in the back row for the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division top seeded Wilmington University volleyball team led to a sweep over the North Division's fourth seeded Post in the CACC Quarterfinals on Tuesday night at the WU Athletics Complex.
With the win, the Wildcats (27-5 overall) advance to the CACC Semifinals on Friday hosted by Georgian Court University in Lakewood, N.J. Georgian Court, the South Division's No. 3 seed, returns home to the semifinals after upsetting Caldwell, 3-1, on Tuesday night. The Wildcats and the Lions will square off as South Division rivals in the semifinals starting at 7:30 p.m.
Much like when the teams squared on to end the regular season on Saturday, Wilmington's front three dominated at the net, out-blocking Post, 12-5, for the match. The Wildcats also held down the fort in the back row, collecting 59 digs in the three set match and causing the Eagles (10-18 overall) to hit negative .041 for the match.
Freshman Shelby Henderson led the defensive effort with 17 digs on the match, coming off the bench as a defensive specialist in the first two sets before putting on the libero jersey for the third frame. Classmate Kaitlin DiGiacinto chipped with in with 16 digs while senior Nicole Wiechecki added 10.
At the net, the Wildcats posted 18 block assists and added three solo blocks to control the match like they have all season long. The conference's leading blocker was at it again as junior middle Katie Shorter collected five block assists and added a solo block to lead to the team with 3.5 total blocks. Fellow junior middle hitter Brittany Biddle tacked on four more block assists and added a solo block as well and is now second overall in the CACC with 112 total blocks.
The first set was decided by a big run from the Wildcats after already leading 16-12. A double block by Alex Siolos and Shorter started an 8-0 for the Wildcat while Wiechecki and DiGiacinto picked up kills in the streak. Biddle denied her lone solo block of the match in the run and Henderson capped the scoring off with her lone service ace of the match. The teams traded the final four points of the set, with the Eagles provided the final point on a service error, 25-14.
Another big run in the middle of the second set put the Wildcats in a situation to take control of the match with a 2-0 lead. Leading 11-8, the home team went on a 12-4 run to jump to a 23-12 lead and control the game. Kasey Couch and Siolos picked up services aces during the run before Biddle, Wiechecki and Brooke Foskey hit back-to-back-to-back kills to cap the scoring. Five straight points by the visitors gave the Wildcats a scare, but the No. 1 seed responded with a block by Biddle and Foskey and then a kill by Wiechecki to close out the set, 25-18.
Post closed a five point gap late in the third set to tie the frame at 23-23 to put pressure on the home team, but Foskey gave the Wildcats set and match point with a kill from Siolos after a volley that switched sides of the net 15 times before finding the floor. The Eagles battled back from a 19-14 deficit with a 9-4 run before a Post attack error gave the Wildcats the set and the match, 25-23.
Wilmington received a team high eight kills from Wiechecki and DiGiacinto while getting five kills from Foskey and four from Biddle, but only hit .107 for the match. The Wildcats hit .214 (10-4-28) in the first set, but only collected averages of .077 and .074 in the second and third games, respectively.
In the regular season, the Wildcats defeated Georgian Court in each of their two meetings, first on the road, 3-1, on September 19 and again at home, 3-0, on October 12. The two will square off in the second CACC Semifinal at Georgian Court, with the North Division's No. 1 Dominican taking on the South Division's No. 2 Philadelphia in the first semifinal starting at 5:30 p.m.
