LAKEWOOD, N.J. - - A seven-match win streak was snapped on Thursday night as the Wilmington University volleyball team couldn't hang on to a 2-1 lead at Georgian Court, falling in five sets inside the Wellness Center.
Set scores for the match were 14-25, 25-23, 14-25, 25-23, and 15-10.
The loss drops the Wildcats into third place in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division. Holy Family leads at 9-0 followed by Jefferson (8-2), Wilmington (7-3), and Chestnut Hill (6-3). Georgian Court stays in the hunt with the win at 4-6.
The Wildcats broke loose in the first set with an 11-4 run to take a 22-13 lead. Brice Hansen had three kills during the run and then she gave the Wildcats their 23rd point and finished off the Lions with an ace, 25-14.
The Wildcats fought back from down 17-14 in the second set to eventually tie the set, 18-18, with a block from Kacey Affrunti and Brice Hansen. The Lions scored three straight to take a 23-20 lead but the Wildcats answered right back with a 3-0 run of their own. But the Wildcats couldn't capitalize, as an error gave the Lions set point before a Lions' kill tied the match, 25-23.
The third set was all WilmU once again, using a 6-2 run to take a 16-9 lead. Dorie Moore put down a kill followed by terminations from Brice Hansen and Heather Pedrick to give the Wildcats a 23-13 lead. Back-to-back attack errors from the Lions gave the Wildcats the set, 25-14, and the 2-1 match lead.
The fourth set produced 11 ties and six lead changes. The Wildcats led early, 11-8, but then the teams tied 12-12 and seven more times with the latest coming at 20-20. The Lions scored back-to-back points to lead 22-20, and then put down a kill to lead 23-21. Katie Bushong put down a kill on two to get to 23-22, and Heather Pedrick staved off one set point with a kill to get to 24-23, but an error gave the Lions the set, 25-23, and tied the match, 2-2.
Tied 3-3 in the fifth set, a service error sparked a 3-0 run for the Lions. Shannen Litten and Heather Pedrick put down kills and then Pedrick added two more kills and the fifth set was locked at 8-8. But back-to-back Wildcat error gave the Lions an 11-8 lead and the Wildcats couldn't get any closer than 11-9 the rest of the way. Back-to-back aces gave the Wildcats match point and then a kill gave the Lions the match, 15-10.
Heather Pedrick put down 16 kills to go with 11 digs and three block assists while Kacey Affrunti hit .464 for the match with 15 kills and nine total blocks (two solo), for a team high 21.5 points. Brice Hansen added 13 kills while hitting .306, collecting 11 digs for the double-double. Elly Collins led with 14 digs while Katie Bushong passed out 51 assists in the loss.
The Wildcats hit .307 for the match as a team but couldn't stop the Lions' Nylene Mateo who had 23 kills and 10 digs.
The Wildcats will look to regroup on Saturday as they return to the friendly confines of the WU Athletics Complex. They face Felician in a CACC cross divisional contest with the first serve set for 6:00 p.m.