BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - - Playing the second match of a back-to-back on Saturday, the Wilmington University volleyball dropped a closely fought battle with Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference North Division foe Bridgeport, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon inside Hubbell Gym.
Set scores for the match were 26-24, 23-25, 27-25, and 25-23.
The tightly contested contest went the way of the Purple Knights (11-16, 10-5 CACC), as they out-hit the Wildcats (12-14, 9-5 CACC), .224 to .122, out-blocked the Wildcats, 14 to 5, and had 22 more points overall than the Wildcats, 84-62.
The Purple Knights led 20-15 in the first set before the Wildcats mounted a comeback. A kill from Heather Pedrick and then two from Kacey Affrunti along with an ace from Elly Collins sparked a 5-0 run to tie the set at 20-20. Bridgeport earned set point, 24-22, but a service error gave the ball back to Wilmington and an attack error tied the game, 24-24. But Bridgeport had a kill and an ace to put the set away, 26-24.
Bridgeport jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the second set but the Wildcats worked back to eventually tie the set, 15-15, and take the lead on an Affrunti ace, 16-15. Another Affrunti kill gave the Wildcats a 21-20 lead but Bridgeport scored three straight to gain a 23-21 advantage. Three straight terminations from Kacey Affrunti gave the Wildcats set point, 24-23, and then Amelia Scarchilli finished the set with an ace, 25-23.
A 7-0 run in the third set gave the Purple Knights a 14-7 lead and they still led 18-12 later on. Brice Hansen sparked a 7-0 for the Wildcats with four of the kills in the spurt, tying the game, 19-19. The teams traded points with Bridgeport getting set point, 24-23. Kacey Affrunti put down a kill save one set point but Bridgeport again had set point with a kill, 25-24. Heather Pedrick put down a kill to stave off another set point, but Bridgeport got back-to-back kills from Lucia Tomiello to win the game, 27-25.
A 3-0 run gave the Wildcats an 11-9 lead in the fourth. Bridgeport used a 4-0 run to take an 18-15 and then another 4-0 run to gain match point, 24-19. Kills from Jess Connelly and Kacey Affrunti sparked a 3-0 run, forcing Bridgeport into a timeout. Kacey Affrunti had a solo block out of the timeout to make it 24-23, but then the Purple Knights were able to find a closer, getting a kill to end the match, 25-23.
Kacey Affrunti led the Wildcats with 15 kills and four aces while Heather Pedrick and Brice Hansen added 12 kills each. Pedrick added 12 digs for the double-double. Katie Bushong dished out 38 assists and Elly Collins led the team with 20 digs.
The Wildcats step outside the CACC for one final time on Tuesday, as they head up the road to West Chester. The first serve is set for 7:00 p.m.