NEWARK, Del. - - The final points were hard to find for the Wilmington University volleyball team as they dropped a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division matchup to Holy Family, 3-0, on Wednesday night at the WU Athletics Complex.
Set scores for the match were 28-26, 27-25, and 25-16.
The Wildcats (13-18, 9-9 CACC) had set points in the first two games, but failed to find the final points. On the flip side, the Tigers (20-9, 15-4 CACC) were able to rally and put down the final points in the first two sets before carrying the momentum into the third frame.
The Wildcats rallied from down 17-15 with a 6-1 spurt, finished with a double block by Rebecca Rawlinson and Mandy Behiels for the 21-18 lead. The Tigers fought back with a 4-1 run of their own, regaining a 22-21 lead. Down 23-22, Rawlinson put down back-to-back kills to gain set point, 24-23. But the Tigers had the answer again, scoring back-to-back points to swing the momentum back to the visitors. Erin Bistany and Rawlinson staved off set point, however, before a Tiger error gave the Wildcats another set points, 26-25. Holy Family answered with kills from Chase Wassel and Jaime Bonner, before picking up an ace out of a timeout to take the first set, 28-26.
Needing to fight back, the Wildcats jumped out to a 15-10 lead in the second set. But the Tigers clawed back with four straight points, closing the gap to 15-14. Tied at 19-19, a Tiger service error started a 3-0 run, ending in a 23-20 Wildcat lead with a kill from Rawlinson. A Bistany and Rawlinson double block gave the Wildcats three set points, 24-21, but the Tigers climbed all the way back with four straight points to take a 25-24 lead. After Brittany Ford tied the set at 25-25, the Tigers used back-to-back kills to take a 2-0 lead in the match, 27-25.
The Tigers carried that momentum into the third set, jumping out to an 11-7 lead. Now down 14-11, the Wildcats couldn't stop the Tigers as they went on a 4-0 run to take an 18-11 lead. Back-to-back Tiger errors kept the Wildcats alive before a Ford and Rawlinson double block brought the Wildcats back to within 18-15. But the Tigers rallied once again, taking the next four points to keep the Wildcats at an arms' length, 22-15. Rawlinson put down her final kill of the night, 22-16, but the Tigers scored the final three points of the night to close out the match, 25-16.
Rawlinson led the Wildcats with nine kills while adding a match high nine block assists. The sophomore middle only made one error on 17 attempts, hitting .471 for the match. Behiels finished with six kills and eight digs. Addalyn Flores led the back row with 14 digs while Miranda Shaw collected a double-double with 12 assists and 10 digs. Bistany added four block assists for the Wildcats.
With the loss, coupled by wins from Georgian Court and Goldey-Beacom, the Wildcats are mathematically eliminated from CACC Tournament consideration. Both Goldey-Beacom and Georgian Court hold tiebreakers against the Wildcats, even if they finished tied in the standings.
The Wildcats have one match remaining in the 2017 season, as they head to Chestnut Hill on Saturday for the season finale. The first serve in Philadelphia is set for 6:00 p.m. on Saturday night.
