NEWARK, Del. - - Kicking off the 2023 Wilmington University Homecoming Gameday festivities, the volleyball team won a tight contest with Post, 3-1, as two of the sets went into extra points on Saturday morning at the WU Athletics Complex.
Set scores for the match were 27-25, 25-23, 25-27, and 25-13.
Highlighting the opening set was senior libero Elly Collins as she became the program's first ever student-athlete to reach 2,000 career digs in Wilmington's NCAA era. She only needed four digs to reach the milestone after becoming the program's all-time leader in digs on Wednesday night. She collected 25 digs on Saturday and now sits at 2,021 with half a season still to play.
The Wildcats jumped out to an 18-13 lead in the first set, but the Eagles fought right back. They went on a 6-0 run to take the lead. The teams went back and forth as Shannen Litten put down a kill for a 22-21 lead. The Eagles scored three straight to earnest point, but a service error gave the Wildcats the ball back. The Eagles had an attack error to tie the set, 24-24, but then had another set point, 25-24, with a kill. Brice Hansen put down a kill to tie the game, 25-25, and then a Shannen Litten ace put the Wildcats in the driver's seat. Dorie Moore and Katie Bushong came up with a block to win the set for the Wildcats, 27-25.
Down 13-10 in the second set, the Wildcats fired off a 7-2 run, capped by a Dorie Moore kill to take a 17-15 lead. Each team used 3-0 runs as the momentum went back and forth, with the Eagles tying the game, 21-21. Kills from Cailyn Smiley and Brice Hansen gave the Wildcats set point, 24-21. The Eagles saved two set points but a Brice Hansen kill gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead, 25-23.
The Wildcats were up 19-13 in the third set, but the Eagles roared back with a 9-1 run to lead 22-20. Down 23-21, the Wildcats used kills from Cailyn Smiley, Karalyn Osborne, and an Eagle error to earn match point, 24-23. But the Eagles scored back-to-back points to change the tide, and then back-to-back points again to keep the match alive, 27-25.
The Wildcats jumped out to a large lead once again in the fourth set, but this time they didn't let the Eagles back in it. A Katie Bushong ace capped a 9-4 run to put the Wildcats up 14-6. Another 6-2 spurt gave the Wildcats a 20-11 lead and then the Wildcats capped the match with the final five points to win the match, 25-13.
Brice Hansen and Cailyn Smiley led the attack with 15 kills each while Hansen hit .268 for the match and Smiley hit .222. Shannen Litten came away with seven kills while adding seven total blocks (one solo). Smiley added a double-double with 16 digs while Katie Bushong had 33 assists and 12 digs for a double-double. Brice Hansen added 14 digs as well for a double-double.
The Wildcats play three matches next week, starting with a home game against Goldey-Beacom on Tuesday. The first serve is set for 7:00 p.m. at the WU Athletics Complex.
