WILMINGTON, Del. - - The Wilmington University volleyball team won its fifth match in a row on Thursday night, defeating Goldey-Beacom, 3-0, on the road to remain in third place in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division with two matches to play.
Set scores for the match were 25-14, 25-11, and 25-16.
The Wildcats (15-12, 9-5 CACC) set a new season best by hitting .273 in the match, committing a season low nine errors on 99 swings. They also tied their season's second best with 13 aces on the night.
The night started with the Wildcats scoring the first eight points of the match. Goldey-Beacom (0-18, 0-15 CACC) closed to with 9-5, but then the Wildcats scored three straight to stop the home team's momentum. Another 5-0 run late in the set gave the Wildcats a 22-13 lead and then kills from Dorie Moore and Karalyn Osborne ended the set, 25-14.
Tied 4-4 in the second set, the Wildcats scored four consecutive points to take an 8-4 lead. After Goldey-Beacom scored a quick point, the Wildcats rattled off 10 straight points to open an 18-5 lead. Another 3-0 run gave the Wildcats set point and then Katie Bushong ended the game with a kill, 25-11, to lead 2-0.
Trailing 6-4 in the third set, the Wildcats used a 7-1 run to take an 11-7 lead. Two aces and a kill from Cailyn Smiley and two more kills from Sydney Barrett were the points of a 5-0 run to take an 18-10 lead and then another 3-0 run put the Wildcats up 21-13. Carleigh Santavy gave the Wildcats match point and then Ally Jonika put the match away with a kill, 25-16.
Shannen Litten led the offense with eight kills on only 10 swings while not committing an error, hitting .800 for the match. Sydney Barrett didn't commit an attacking error either, putting down seven kills on 13 swings while hitting .538. Karalyn Osborne finished with six kills for the Wildcats.
Katie Bushong dished out 19 assists while adding 12 digs and five aces. Claudia Melendez added eight assists, eight digs, and four aces. Melendez has collected 14 aces against the Lightning in two matches. Elly Collins led the team with 13 aces.
The Wildcats remain a game in the loss column behind Chestnut Hill in third place in the CACC South Division. The Wildcats have two matches remaining in the regular season, first against Caldwell on Saturday for Senior Day. The first serve is set for 1:00 p.m. at the WU Athletics Complex.