Video Recap at Bottom of Page
NEWARK, Del. - - Trailing 2-1 and 20-16 in the fourth set, the Wilmington University volleyball team rallied and completed a five-set comeback over crosstown rival Goldey-Beacom, 3-2, to stay atop the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division standings on Wednesday night at the WU Athletics Complex.
Set scores for the match were 15-25, 25-19, 19-25, 25-22, and 15-13.
The Wildcats remain atop the CACC South Division standings with a 7-1 CACC mark, moving to 11-8 overall on the year.
With the Wildcats leading, 15-12, in the fourth set, Goldey-Beacom called a time out which seemed to stem the tide. They scored four straight out of the timeout and then back-to-back points to take an 18-16 lead and force the Wildcats into a timeout. The Lightning scored two more points out of the break, taking a 20-16 lead in the set.
But the Wildcats didn't roll over, getting back-to-back points to close the gap, 20-18. A Goldey-Beacom point made it a 21-18 lead and then Gianna King had a kill and a block, bringing the Wildcats to within 21-20. A Lightning block put the set at 22-20, but then an error and another block by King tied the game, 22-22. Addison Hoover gave the Wildcats the lead with a kill and then another block by King and Hoover put the Wildcats at set point, 24-22. An attack error gave the Wildcats the set, 25-22, keeping the match alive.
Goldey-Beacom raced out to a 5-2 lead in the fifth set before the Wildcats started to chip away at the deficit. They scored back-to-back points twice, getting a block from Makailah Ford and Karla Nunez-Rivera to tie the set, 6-6. A pair of kills by Nunez-Rivera in a 3-0 run gave the Wildcats a 9-7 lead. Goldey-Beacom scored back-to-back points to tie the game, 11-11, forcing Wilmington into their second timeout of the set.
The teams traded points again, with a Goldey-Beacom kill tying the set, 13-13. Christine Covello then put down a kill on a two-ball for match point and then Karla Nunez-Rivera put a swing off the block, completing the comeback, 15-13.
Karla Nunez-Rivera and Addison Hoover led the Wildcats with 14 kills each while Eliza Schneider added 11 kills. Hoover finished with a double-double with 11 digs while Gabby Barth led the team with 27 digs while Morgan Daniels added 22. Gianna King finished with nine kills while hitting .381, leading the team with seven total blocks (two solo). Makailah Ford added six blocks as well at the net.
The Wildcats step out of conference play this weekend, heading to Assumption for two matches on Saturday. They will first place Southern New Hampshire at 5:30 and the host Greyhounds at 5:00 p.m. in Worcester, Massachusetts.
