WILMINGTON, Del. - - After dropping the first set, the Wilmington University volleyball team came back to defeat crosstown rival, Goldey-Beacom, 3-1, in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division battle on Wednesday night inside the Joseph West Jones Center.
Set scores for the match were 22-25, 25-19, 26-24, and 25-22.
The Wildcats (11-10, 6-2 CACC) stayed on pace atop the CACC South Division standings with Georgian Court and Chestnut Hill with win. The Wildcats used the attack of Eliza Schneider, Karla Nunez-Rivera, and Alex Serna once again to carry the offense while the block picked up double digit totals for the second match in a row.
The Lightning (8-11, 2-5 CACC) turned a 9-9 first set into a 19-12 advantage. A 3-0 run brought the Wildcats to within 19-16, but the teams traded points once again until the Wildcats got a kill from Karalyn Osbourne, a block, and a kill from Cam Justus to close the game to 24-22. But GBC finished off the set, 25-22.
Wilmington started the second set on a 9-2 run, taking as large as a 12-4 lead. Goldey-Beacom fought to within 17-12 but a kill from Schneider gave the Wildcats set point, 24-16. The Lightning saved three set points but then Schneider tied the match with another kill, 25-19.
With the third set tied at 8-8, the Wildcats went on a 4-0 spurt to take the lead. They extended the lead out to 20-14 before the Lightning battled back. An 8-2 run tied the set at 22-22 but the Wildcats were the first to gain set point after another Schneider kill, 24-23. They weren't able to put the Lightning away with the next point, but got a kill from Schneider again for 25-24, before a Lightning error put the Wildcats in front, 2-1, with a 26-24 third set.
The Lightning used a 7-0 run in the fourth set to take a 16-11 lead, but the Wildcats came right back with a. 4-0 rally to tie the set, 17-17. The Lightning scored back-to-back points before the Wildcats went on a 5-0 run to take over the set and lead 22-19. A Lightning error and a Schneider kill gave the Wildcats set point before one final Schneider termination gave the Wildcats the match, 25-22.
Eliza Schneider tied her season high with 19 kills, setting a new season's best with a .471 attack percentage with only three errors. Alex Serna put down 10 kills with only one error while hitting .429, adding 10 digs, three solo blocks, and six block assists. Karla Nunez-Rivera put down 10 kills as well, adding six more block assists. Karalyn Osborne had 29 assists with 10 digs while Haley Holland led the way with five aces.
The Wildcats remain on the road for four more matches, starting with a long road trip to Post on Saturday. The match is set for 4:00 p.m. in Waterbury, Connecticut.