ORANGEBURG, N.Y. - - The Wilmington University volleyball team battled through another five-set Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference victory, this time coming back to take the final two sets to defeat Dominican, 3-2, on Saturday inside the Hennessy Center.
Set scores for the match were 26-24, 21-25, 13-25, 25-23, and 15-12.
The Wildcats have won five matches in a row and are now 8-7 overall and 5-0 in CACC play. Of the five conference wins, four of them have gone the distance.
The Wildcats faced set point in the opening game, 24-22, but a service error kept the Wildcats alive and gave the service over to the visitors. A bad set tied the game, 24-24, and then Cam Justus served out the game for the Wildcats, picking up back-to-back aces to make it a 4-0 run and steal the set, 26-24.
The Wildcats led 19-16 in the second set, but the Chargers stormed back with a 6-0 run to take the lead for good. The Wildcats closed to within 23-21, but the Chargers finished off the game, 25-21.
The Chargers jumped out to an early lead in set three and led 17-8 after a 3-0 run. They would close out the game, 25-13, to lead, 2-1.
Trailing 17-13 in the fourth set, the Wildcats started their comeback. A 5-1 spurt tied the game, with a kill from Addison Hoover making it 18-18. The Chargers regained a 19-18 lead and the game was tied 20-20. Eliza Schneider put down a kill for a lead the Wildcats wouldn't relinquish. Schneider than put down back-to-back kills for set point, 24-21, before the Chargers saved a pair, 24-23. Eliza Schneider than forced a game five with another kill, 25-23.
The Wildcats used a 5-1 run early in the fifth to set the tone, turning a 4-3 game into a 9-4 lead. But the Chargers fought back, using a 6-1 run of their own to eventually tie the game, 11-11. An Alexis Parkinson kill started a 3-0 run to gain match point, 14-11, and then Chelsea Blaine-Agett finished off the Chargers with a kill, 15-12.
Eliza Schnneider led the shorthanded Wildcats with 19 kills while only making three errors on 45 attempts to hit .356. Addison Hoover added 16 kills and 14 digs to help the attack. Chelsea Blaine-Agett had six kills and led the team with four blocks. Morgan Daniels had 15 digs while Haley Holland added 10. Christine Covello dished out 28 assists with Cam Justus adding 17 helpers and a team high three aces.
The Wildcats have three matches next week, starting with a key CACC South Division tilt with Jefferson on Tuesday. The match will start at 7:00 p.m. at the WU Athletics Complex.