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NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University volleyball team clinched the third seed in the South Division with a 3-0 victory over Holy Family in its Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference regular season finale on Wednesday night at the WU Athletics Complex.
Set scores for the match were 25-17, 25-19, and 25-15.
The Wildcats (16-14, 12-5 CACC) will head to the North Division's number two seed Bridgeport on Monday, November 7 for the CACC Tournament Quarterfinal.
Trailing 12-9 in the first set, the Wildcats rattled off five straight points and took a 14-12 lead with a block by Kacey Affrunti and Katie Bushong. Back-to-back kills by Brice Hansen gave the Wildcats a 17-13 lead and forced Holy Family into their second timeout of the set. Heather Pedrick started a set ending 5-0 run with a kill while Dorie Moore gave the Wildcats set point with a solo block. Pedrick then finished off the game with a kill, 25-17.
The Wildcats were down 12-7 in the second set again. Heather Pedrick and Jess Connelly put down kills and then Pedrick and Moore teamed up for a block to force the Tigers into a timeout early. The run continued for the Wildcats with a Brice Hansen ace, a kill from Dorie Moore, and a couple Tigers errors to give the Wildcats a 14-12 lead. The run finished at 12-2 for the Wildcats, as Pedrick put the Wildcats up 19-14 with a kill. Holy Family closed to within 21-18, but the Wildcats scored back-to-back points to regain momentum. Dorie Moore gave the Wildcats set point and then a block by Pedrick and Moore put the Wildcats up, 2-0, with a 25-19 set two win.
Holy Family scored three consecutive points to tie the third set, 11-11, but the Wildcats answered with a 4-0 run of their own. A Katie Bushong ace put the Wildcats up, 19-13, before another block by the Wildcats, this time by Sydney Hicks and Dorie Moore, gave the Wildcats a 22-14 lead. A Kacey Affrunti kill gave the Wildcats set point and then the block of Kacey Affrunti and Jess Connelly ended the set, 25-15, and the match, 3-0.
Kacey Affrunti had seven of her team leading 11 kills in the third set alone, adding four block assists as well. Brice Hansen added eight kills and 11 digs while Heather Pedrick finished with seven kills and 12 digs. Dorie Moore had six total blocks on the night while Elly Collins led the back row with 22 digs. Katie Bushong had four kills, 32 assists, and three blocks on the night as well.
The CACC Tournament begins Monday, November 7 with four quarterfinal matches. The four winners advance to the CACC Tournament Semifinals hosted by Holy Family in Philadelphia starting on Saturday, November 12.
