Wilmington, Del. – After a marathon day of volleyball from the WU Athletics Complex, the Molloy volleyball team split matches with Jefferson and Wilmington University. The Lions took a five-set match from the Rams to start the morning before going well into the evening against the Wildcats, falling in four sets. The team will leave the Wildcat Regional Invitational with a 1-2 record on the weekend and a 2-3 record overall.

Game One
Molloy 25, Jefferson 20
Molloy 25, Jefferson 20
Jefferson 25, Molloy 17
Jefferson 25, Molloy 18
Molloy 15, Jefferson 9

How it Happened

• Molloy held the advantage through most of the first set, but the Lions and Rams found themselves tied, 17-17.
• Kills from senior Kiarra Roth and junior Alex Brown helped Molloy to a 21-17 advantage.
• The Rams would threaten, coming within one, 21-10, but the final four points of the set would go in favor of the Lions, including blocks from graduate student Mariana Donado Yepes and senior Colleen Moulder.
• The cardinal and white's strong start carried over into the second set, as two kills from Moulder, one from Roth, one from junior Roberta Monticelli, and a service ace from Brown put the team in front, 6-2.
• Jefferson would tie the contest at 14, but Molloy quickly regained the lead by taking the next two points. The set would be sealed with a kill from Brown.
• After trailing early in the third set, the Lions rolled off a string of six-straight points with kills from Moulder, Donado Yepes, and junior Rebecca Meier to take an 11-10 lead.
• The tide shifted in favor of the Rams, however, who quickly went in front 19-13 en route to the set victory.
• After trailing 7-2 early in the fourth set, a five-point swing for the Rams put the team ahead, 11-8, that Molloy would be unable to come back from, forcing a deciding set.
• The Lions took a 6-2 lead on kills from Roth and Moulder and another ace from Brown.
• From there, the cardinal and white attack did not miss, ending the contest on a block from Roth and Moulder to earn the gutsy victory.

Top Performances

• Roth had a double-double with 18 kills and 15 digs.
• Sophomore Angelina Scichilone led defensively with 18 digs while adding three assists and two aces.
• Monticelli had 10 kills while adding seven digs and two blocks.
• Donado Yepes just missed a double-double, putting up 40 assists to go with nine digs, four blocks, and three aces.
• Moulder had a career-high six blocks to go with seven kills.
• Brown put up eight kills, seven digs and two aces while senior Madison Wakely had three blocks, three digs, two kills, and two aces.

 
Game Two
Wilmington 27, Molloy 25
Wilmington 25, Molloy 20
Molloy 25, Wilmington 22
Wilmington 25, Molloy 10

How it Happened

• Molloy took an early 4-1 lead on kills from Roth, Moulder, and Monticelli before the Wildcats would tie the score, 9-9.
• From that point, the first set would be a dog fight with the teams trading points and found the score tied six times, including as late as 25-25. Offensive miscues from the Lions gave Wilmington the two-point advantage needed to take the first set.
• The Lions had another strong start to the second set, leading by as much as 9-2 led by three kills from Moulder.
• The Wildcats, however, clawed back and tied the contest at 10.
• With neither team willing to give an inch, the score would be tied eight more times until a six-point run gave the home team the second set victory.
• The back-and-forth scoring trend would continue into the third set with the score being tied five times through the first 12 points.
• The Wildcats would gain a slight edge, but kills from Moulder, Wakely, and Roth would help to re-tie the score yet again, 11-11.
• Wilmington would take the next three points, but a run that included four kills from Brown and two from Moulder would give Molloy a 21-17 advantage.
• The home team would respond with four-straight points to tie the contest at 21.
• Kills from Roth and Moulder would put Molloy in front by two, 23-21, before back-to-back- kills from Monticelli ended the set in favor of the Lions.
• The home team opened up the fourth set on an 8-0 run that would ultimately be too much for Molloy to come back from.

Top Performances

• Both Monticelli and Moulder led with 14 kills with Monticelli adding 10 digs for a double-double. Moulder put up four blocks.
• Roth had her second-straight double-double with a career-high 20 dogs to go with 13 kills.
• Donado Yepes also had a double-double with 39 assists and 20 digs.
• Brown tallied nine digs, eight kills, and three blocks.
• Freshman Hope Carolan also recorded 20 digs while adding three assists.

Up Next
The Lions will be back in action on Friday (Sept. 15) with a twin bill against American International College (2:00 p.m.) and Bentley University (4:30 p.m.) from Springfield, Mass.