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NEWARK, Del. - - For the first time since the 2015 season, the Wilmington University volleyball team is heading back to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament Semifinals after defeating Post, 3-0, in the First Round on Tuesday night at the WU Athletics Complex.
Set scores for the match were 25-14, 25-11, and 25-22.
The Wildcats (21-12) will head to Lakewood, N.J. for the CACC Tournament Semifinals on Saturday. They will play the North Division's No. 1 seed Bloomfield in the second semifinal with an expected start of 3:30 p.m. in the Wellness Center on the campus of Georgian Court University. Bloomfield defeated Georgian Court, 3-1, in the First Round on Tuesday.
The offense had its best performance on Tuesday night since a sweep of Goldey-Beacom on October 27. The Wildcats put down 32 kills with only 10 errors on 91 swings, going for a .242 attack percentage. It was their eighth best hitting percentage of the season.
Mandy Behiels lifted the Wildcats, finishing with a double-double by going for a match high 11 kills and adding 11 digs. Heather Pedrick dished out 15 assists and added 14 digs while Katie Bushong assisted with 14 helpers. Dorie Moore collected three solo and two block assists while Angel Oliver had two solo and two block assists.
A 9-1 run in the first set gave the Wildcats a 12-6 lead. Another 8-1 lead, capped by a block by Angel Oliver and Jessica Connelly had the Wildcats take a 21-10 lead. The teams traded points from there, with a service error giving the first game to the Wildcats, 25-14.
A solo block by Dorie Moore capped a 10-3 start to the second set before another 7-1 spurt gave the Wildcats a 17-6 lead. A pair of kills from Kaiya Medina gave the Wildcats set point, 24-10, before Mandy Behiels put the set away with a kill, 25-11.
With the third set tied at 4-4, the Wildcats ran off six straight points to take a 10-4 lead. The Wildcats were leading by as many seven, and led 18-12 after a kill from Angel Oliver. But the Eagles fought back, scoring six straight during an 8-1 run to take a 21-19 lead. The Wildcats scored back-to-back points to tie the set, 21-21, but a service error gave the ball back to post, 22-21. Mandy Behiels put down a kill followed by a kill from Heather Pedrick to regain the lead, 23-22. A Dorie Moore block gave the Wildcats match point for an attack error ended the match, 25-22.
The Wildcats will be making their eighth CACC Tournament Semifinals appearance since joining the NCAA ranks in 2004. It will be their first semifinal appearance since 2015, following a string of five straight from 2011 to 2015.
