NEWARK, Del. - - Career highs from Eliza Schneider and Ally Jonika led the Wilmington University volleyball team to a 3-1 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference victory over Bloomfield on Thursday night at the WU Athletics Complex.
Set scores for the match were 25-16, 25-18, 25-27, and 25-16.
Eliza Schneider reset her season high with 19 kills on Thursday night, hitting a new season high .444 in the match. Ally Jonika set a new career high as well, putting down eight kills while only committing one error on 14 attempts to hit .500 for the match. As a team, the Wildcats set a new season best in hitting .333 for the night.
In the first set, the Wildcats turned a 12-11 lead into a 20-14 advantage with a 8-3 run. The Bears got to within 20-16, but then the Wildcats rattled off the final five points to win, 25-16.
The second set was tied, 10-10, before the Wildcats rattled off three straight points. The teams then traded points until back-to-back points by the Wildcats, 18-14. The Bears closed the gap wo within 19-17 and then 21-18, but then the Wildcats scored the final four points to take the game, 25-18.
Trailing 19-16 in the third set, the Wildcats fought back with a 7-1 run, capped by a kill from Brady Hrivnak to take a 23-20 lead. The Wildcats earned match point with a kill from Jonika, but the Bears scored three straight to earn their own set point, 25-24. The Wildcats saved one set point, but the Bears scored back-to-back points to win the third set, 27-25.
The Wildcats used a 13-3 run in the early going of the fourth set to open a large lead, 14-5. The Bears could only get to within 17-10 and then the Wildcats went on another 7-3 spurt to take a 24-13 lead and gain match point. Karla Nunez-Rivera put down a kill to end the match, 25-15.
Karla Nunez-Rivera put down nine kills with only one error to hit .533 for the match while Karalyn Osborne chipped in with seven kills, 21 assists, and seven digs. Cam Justus dished out 25 assists and added seven digs while Gabby Barth led the back row with 17 digs. Morgan Daniels chipped in with nine digs.
The Wildcats hit the road for their next seven matches, starting with a long road trip to Buffalo, New York. They will play Daemen and D'Youville this weekend, starting with Daemen on Friday night at 7:00 p.m.