PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - The Wilmington University volleyball team fought back from a 2-0 deficit but couldn't complete the comeback despite holding match point in the fifth set at Holy Family, 3-2, on Tuesday night at the Campus Center.
Set scores for the Wildcats were 21-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-18, and 19-21.
Down 14-10 in the third set, the Wildcats rallied from behind, using a 3-0 run to take a 21-19 lead. Holy Family tied the game, 23-23, but then the Wildcats stayed alive with back-to-back errors from the Tigers, 25-23.
The Wildcats then fell behind 4-0 in the fourth set but fought back with a 9-1 run to take a 10-6 lead. Another 11-3 run put the Wildcats in control, leading 21-12. The Tigers got back to within 21-17 but kills from Sydney Barrett and Karalyn Osborne gave the Wildcats set point, 24-17. They would win the set to force a fifth, 25-18.
Wilmington started the fifth with the first five points and then the two teams switched sides as the Wildcats had an 8-4 lead. A Kill from Brice Hansen gave the Wildcats a 13-8 lead, but then the Tigers scored the next five points to tie the game, 13-13. A kill from Katie Bushong gave the Wildcats their first match point, but the Tigers answered right away with back-to-back points to gain control. Sydney Barrett gave the Wildcats another match point with a kill, 17-16, and the Wildcats had another match points at 18-17. But the Tigers answered every call, and then gained match point of their own, 19-18. The Wildcats tied it, 19-19, with a service error, but then the Tigers finished off the match with a kill and a Wildcat error, 21-19.
The Wildcats committed 28 errors in the match, hitting .091 as a team. The Tigers also collected 102 digs on the night, adding 17 aces while hitting .154 as a team.
Brice Hansen led the Wildcats with 10 kills and 16 digs while Shannen Litten and Alex Serna had seven kills each from the middle position. Litten also had four aces and three blocks. Sydney Barrett collected six kills and six digs. Katie Bushong passed out 30 assists while adding four aces, four kills, and nine digs. Claudia Melendez chipped in with three aces and 14 digs while Elly Collins led with 22 digs.
The Wildcats will look to snap their four-match losing streak on Thursday when they host Chestnut Hill in another CACC South Division contest. Thursday will be at the WU Athletics Complex with a 7:00 p.m. first serve.