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NEWARK, Del. - - Kacey Affrunti and Heather Pedrick led the Wilmington University volleyball team to its fifth straight win, coming back and defeating Jefferson, 3-1, in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division battle at the WU Athletics Complex on Tuesday night.
Set scores for the match were 22-25, 25-23, 25-22, and 25-19.
The win was the fifth in a row for the Wildcats as they are now 7-1 in their last eight matches overall. The Wildcats are now 8-11 overall and 6-2 in CACC play, evening the season series with Jefferson, 1-1, as the Rams won the first matchup in Philadelphia, 3-2.
Kacey Affrunti put down 17 kills with only two errors on 30 swings, finishing with a .500 attack percentage. She also had a hand on 10 of the team's 13 blocks on Tuesday, coming away with eight block assists and two solo blocks. Six of her kills came in the third set when she hit .750 without committing an error.
Kaiya Medina gave the Wildcats a 22-21 lead in the first set, but then the Rams scored the final four points of the set to take the opening game, 25-22.
The Rams led 17-12 in the second set before the Wildcats started to come back. Out of a timeout, the Wildcats got kills from Pedrick, Brice Hansen, and Dorie Moore to close the gap to 18-16. But the Rams answered and regained a 21-16 lead. A kill by Affrunti and a Pedrick ace brought the Wildcats back to within 22-20. A Ram service error and an Affrunti kill had the Wildcats to within 23-22, and then Amelia Scarchilli picked up an ace to tie the set, 23-23. Katie Bushong and Kacey Affrunti collected a block for set point, and then Affrunti stuffed Jess Molen with a solo block to win the set, 25-23, and tie the match, 1-1.
The third set was back and forth with 10 ties and six lead changes. The Wildcats scored back-to-back points to take a 17-15 lead and the set was tied again 18-18. The Rams took a 21-18 lead and still led 22-20 before the Wildcats battled back. A service error started a run for the Wildcats as they got kills from Affrunti, Medina to take a 23-22 and force Jefferson into a timeout. Out of the break, Affrunti and Medina picked up a block for set point and then Kaiya Medina put down a kill to win the set, 25-22.
The Wildcats raced out to an early lead in the fourth set, taking as large as a four-point lead at multiple points, as late as 13-9. The Rams battled back and eventually tied the set, 14-14, but then the Wildcats went on a 5-1 run to take the lead for good. The Wildcats continued to lead, 21-19, before kills from Pedrick and Medina gave the Wildcats a 23-19 lead. A block by Affrunti and Pedrick gave the Wildcats match point and Elly Collins served up an ace to win the match, 25-19.
Heather Pedrick ended with 16 kills and 17 digs while hitting .256 on the outside. She also finished with four aces and four block assists. Kaiya Medina finished with nine kills, five digs, and two block assists. Katie Bushong dished out 41 assists and scooped up 10 digs while Elly Collins led the team with 22 digs.
The Wildcats will step out of CACC play for their next match, as they host Pace on Thursday night in nonconference action. The first serve against the Setters is set for 7:00 p.m.
