ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. - - On the first day of the Eckerd College Classic, the Wilmington University volleyball team split a pair of matches against southern teams, first dropping a 3-0 decision to host Eckerd before sweeping a match against Nova Southeastern on Friday night.
Set scores for the match against Eckerd were 17-25, 15-25, and 13-25.
Set scored for the match against Nova Southeastern were 25-16, 25-22, and 25-14.
Eckerd (3-2), which received votes in the latest AVCA Division II National Poll, handled the Wildcats (2-4) in the Eckerd College Classic's first contest, hitting .455 for the match with 47 kills and only committing seven errors for the contest. In the second set alone, Eckerd hit .630, going 18 for 27 with only one error in the set.
Lindsay Biggs set the tone for the Tritons, as she collected 18 kills on 25 swings, committing only three errors for a .600 hitting percentage for the match.
On the flip side, the Wildcats struggled to get off the ground in the day's first match, hitting .154 for the match. They did, however, hit a match high .259 in the first set with nine kills and only two errors. Sophomore Kaitlin DiGiacinto paced the offense with eight kills in the match, hitting .316 to lead the outside hitters.
Junior setter Kasey Couch dished out 12 assists while sophomore Alex Siolos added nine helpers.
Defensively, Couch, Shelby Henderson, and Taylor Rapuano led the Wildcats with five digs each while the visitors were out blocked, 5-1, at the net. Senior Brittany Biddle collected the Wildcats' lone block for the match.
The nightcap was a complete 180 degree turnaround for the Wildcats, as they came out firing on all cylinders in the three-set sweep over Nova Southeastern.
The team hit .256 for the match, capped off by an outstanding .600 attack percentage in the third set, collecting 13 kills while only committing one error on 20 swings.
Leading the way offensively was middle hitter Katie Shorter, as she finished with eight kills on 14 attacks, adding three blocks assists and a solo block on the match. DiGiacinto and freshman Allison Briley added seven kills in the days' second match, with the freshman hitting .261 in the three sets. Biddle and Siolos chipped in with five kills each as well.
Siolos helped distribute the offense evenly, passing out 16 assists against Nova Southeastern (3-3) while Couch added 13 assists as well. Both Couch and Siolos added a pair of service aces each as well in the match, but were outdone by freshman Taylor Rapuano who led the Wildcats with three aces in the match.
The defense also picked up in the second match, as DiGiacinto and Henderson led the team with eight digs and the front line collected a total team number of five blocks. On top of Shorter's 2.5 blocks, Siolos chipped in with three block assists while Biddle and Hannah McQueen added a block assist each as well. The defense held the Sharks to .053 total hitting percentage for the match, including a negative .033 percentage in the second set.
The Wildcats round out the Eckerd College Classic on Saturday with another pair of matches. The day will get started with an 11 a.m. match against Bentley before the team rounds out the weekend with a match against Barry at 5:30 p.m.