PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - Eliza Schneider's collegiate best 17 kills led the Wilmington University volleyball team to a sweep of Holy Family in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division play on Tuesday night inside the Campus Center.
Set scores for the match were 25-22, 28-26, and 25-19.
Freshman Eliza Schneider led the Wilmington attack with a season's best 17 kills while only committing three errors for a season's best .341 attack percentage. It is the fourth straight match with double digit kills, improving on her hitting percentage in each match. The Wildcats (7-7, 3-1 CACC) outhit the Tigers (2-11, 0-2 CACC), .196 to .159, committing only 15 errors in the match. The Tigers also committed 16 service errors in the match.
Holy Family took a 21-20 lead in the first set, but then a service ace was followed by a Schneider kill for the 22-21 lead. Out of a timeout, Karalyn Osborne put down an ace before Crystal Creek added a kill for set point, 24-21. The Tigers got one point back but Schneider put down another kill for the set, 25-22.
The Tigers went on a 5-2 run to take a 20-18 lead in the second set, and then another 4-1 spurt to grab set point, 24-23. But Eliza Schneider held off a pair of Tiger set points with kills. Leading 26-25, another service ace gave the ball back over to Wilmington and they would close out the set. Crystal Creek put down the final kill, 28-26.
Trailing 16-13, the Wildcats went on a 7-1 run to take a 20-17 lead. After the Tigers closed the gap to 20-19, another service error sparked a 5-0 match ending run for the Wildcats. Claudia Melendez put down an ace while the Wildcats got a kill from Karla Nunez-Rivera and a match ending block from Ally Jonika and Nunez-Rivera, 25-19.
Crystal Creek added seven kills with only one error, hitting .375 for the match. Karla Nunez-Rivera and Karalyn Osborne added six kills each while Osborne chipped in with 13 assists and eight digs as well. Gabby Barth led the back row with 18 digs while Haley Holland and Melendez had two aces each. Melendez led the team with 17 assists on Tuesday night.
The Wildcats return home for their next match, looking for their fourth win in a row. They welcome New Haven to the Complex on Thursday night for a nonconference match. The opening serve is set for 7:00 p.m.