NEWARK, Del. - - Goldey-Beacom won its third straight match against the Wilmington University volleyball team, taking the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest, 3-1, on Wednesday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex.
Set scores for the match were 26-24, 18-15, 8-25, and 14-25.
The Wildcats (5-10, 1-4 CACC) hit .038 for the match with 20 errors, allowing 16 Lightning (4-9, 3-2 CACC) service aces throughout the match.
The Wildcats jumped out to a large lead in the first set, going on a 7-1 run to take an 16-8 lead. But the Lightning answered with seven straight points to close the gap to within 16-15. Another 3-0 spurt tied the match 19-19 before the teams traded points back-and-forth until 23-23. Mandy Behiels then put down a service ace, 24-23, giving the home team set point. The Lightning retied the match, 24-24, but a service error gave the Wildcats set points once again. Brittany Ford ended the first game with a kill, 26-24.
The Lightning took the momentum from the Wildcats in the second set, using a 5-0 run to extend their lead to 18-9. Another 3-0 run put the Lightning up 23-13 before the Wildcats ran off four straight points, closing the gap to 23-17. But that was as close as the Wildcats could get, as the Lightning picked up a kill for set point, 24-17. A kill from middle Jax Babezki ended the set, 25-18.
Goldey-Beacom kept rolling into the third set, scoring the first six points before opening up a 13-1 lead. The Wildcats went on a 5-2 run to get within 19-8, but the Lightning rattled off the final six points of the set to take the lead, 2-1, with a third set score of 25-8.
Leading 11-10 in the fourth set, the Lightning went on a 7-0 run to command the set, 18-10. Another 4-0 spurt put the visitors up 23-12 before they were able to finish the match, 25-14.
Behiels led the Wildcats with seven kills while Brittany Ford put down five terminations. Jill Braunsberg dished out 12 assists while Miranda Shaw helped with 10 assists. Jenna Brown led the back row with 15 digs while Braunsberg finished with a double-double with 12 digs.
The Lightning had 80 digs on the match compared to the Wildcats' 64. Makinsie Balderson led the way with 21 digs while freshman Breanne Haley paced the offense with 22 kills for the visitors. Babezki added 16 kills as well for the Lightning.
The Wildcats will look to end their three-match losing streak on Friday when they travel to Nyack for a CACC cross-divisional contest. The first serve against the Warriors is set for 7:00 p.m.
