WILMINGTON, Del. - - The Wilmington University volleyball team was knocked out of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon, falling to Bridgeport in the Semifinal, 3-0, inside the Joseph West Jones Center on the campus of Goldey-Beacom College.
Set scores for the match were 25-23, 25-20, and 25-17.
Bridgeport, the North Division's No. 2 seed, hit .361 for the match with 47 kills, eight assists, and 43 digs. The Wildcats, the South Division's No. 1 seed, hit. 277 for the match with 37 kills, five aces, and 35 digs. Each team came up with three total blocks in the match.
The first set was evenly matched with each team going back and forth. Bridgeport scored three straight to take a 10-8 and then the Wildcats battled back with a kill from Addison Hoover giving the Wildcats a 13-12 lead. But then the Purple Knights went on 6-0 run spanning a timeout to take an 18-13 lead. Trailing 22-18, the Wildcats got back into the set, getting three straight kills from Karla Nunez-Rivera and then a block from Cassidy Miller to tie the game, 22-22. But a service error gave the ball back to Bridgeport and then an ace gave them set point. Addison Hoover saved one set point with a kill, but the Purple Knights came up with a kill to win the game, 25-23.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the second set but then found themselves down 7-4 and 10-6. A kill from Eliza Schneider made it 10-8 and then another Schneider kill followed by a Morgan Daniels ace made it an 11-10 set. Another Schneider kill made it 12-11, but then the Purple Knights rattled off three straight to take a 15-11 lead. Another 3-0 run gave the Knights a 20-13 lead. The Wildcats got to within 22-17, but Bridgeport gained set points with back-to-back points. The Wildcats saved three set points to get to 24-20, but a service error gave the Purple Knights a 2-0 lead, 25-20.
A 4-1 run early in the third set brought the Wildcats to within 11-9, but the Purple Knights responded with a 7-2 spurt to turn it into an 18-11 set. A Morgan Daniels ace capped a 4-1 run for the Wildcats, getting to within 19-15, but then Bridgeport went on a 4-0 run to put the set away. The Wildcats saved one match point with a kill from Schneider, but then Lalay Wood ended the match with a kill, 25-17.
Karla Nunez-Rivera led the Wildcats with 14 kills while only committing two errors on 34 attempts to hit .353 for the match. Addison Hoover finished with nine kills while hitting .368, adding a team high eight digs and two aces. Eliza Schneider added seven kills for the Wildcats. Cam Justus had 16 assists while Christine Covello dished out 10 helpers.
With the win, Bridgeport advances to the CACC Tournament Championship match where they will face the South Division's No. 2 seed Holy Family on Sunday. The Tigers defeated Post, 3-2, in the first semifinal on Saturday.