NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University volleyball team capped the 2023 Wildcat Regional Invitational with a 3-1 victory over Molloy on Saturday night, splitting day two action after opening the day with a 3-1 loss to Queens at the WU Athletics Complex.
Set scores for the match against Queens were 23-25, 21-25, 25-22, and 15-25.
Set scores for the match against Molloy were 27-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-10.
Match vs. Queens:
The Wildcats kept the match alive in the third set by turning around a 20-18 deficit. Cailyn Smiley put down a kill to tie the set, 21-21, and then back-to-back kills from Shannen Litten and a bad set gave the Wildcats set point, 24-21. Cailyn Smiley gave the Wildcats hope with a kill, 25-22, but the they were still down, 2-1, to the Knights.
Sydney Barrett put down a kill in the fourth set to bring the Wildcats to within 11-8, but the Knights took over. They scored three straight to take a 14-8 lead before the teams traded points to 16-12. A 5-0 Knight run gave the visitors a 21-12 lead and then they scored the final three points of the set to take the game, 25-15, and the match, 3-1.
Sophomore middle Shannen Litten led the Wildcats with a .448 attack percentage, putting down 14 kills with only one error on 29 swings. She also had five digs and four block assists. Cailyn Smiley was the only other Wildcat in double digits with 12 kills, adding another double-double with 15 digs.
Elly Collins led the back row with 18 digs while Katie Bushong had 31 assists and 12 digs. Claudia Melendez chipped in with 11 digs as well.
Match vs. Molloy:
The Wildcats had a season high 13 aces against the Lions to close out the 2023 Wildcat Regional Invite. They also had a season high 53 kills with a season high 49 assists, hitting .206 as a team which is second best so far this season. the team's two reception errors are also a team low.
Molloy made the first set interesting after being down 23-20. They scored three straight points to tie the set before the Wildcats had a pair of set points. But Molloy tied the match at 24 and again at 25 before a service error and attack error gave the Wildcats the set, 27-25.
The Lions jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the second set before an 11-3 Wildcat run put the home team up, 13-12. Down 20-19, the Wildcats scored the final six points, capped by a block by Cailyn Smiley and Shannen Litten to win the set, 25-20.
The Wildcats scored four straight point to tie the third set, 21-21, but a pair of back-to-back point gave the Lions the third set, 25-22.
The fourth set was all Wilmington, as they jumped out to an 8-0 lead while Molloy called both of their timeouts. Another 7-0 run gave the Wildcats a 16-3 lead and then they used a 5-1 spurt to take a 21-6 lead. Brady Hrivnak and Alex Serna picked up kills down the stretch before Smiley ended the match with a kill, 25-10.
Brice Hansen led the attack with 15 kills while Cailyn Smiley had 14 kills and 11 digs for the double-double. Shannen Litten had eight kills with only one error, adding a team high six total blocks.
Katie Bushong dished out 37 assists to go with 19 digs while Elly Collins led the back row with 22 digs. Claudia Melendez had five of the team's 13 aces, adding nine digs as well.
Up Next:
The Wildcats have one more weekend tournament before Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference action starts. They head to Adelphi for three matches next weekend, starting with host Adelphi on Friday at 12:00 p.m.
