Wilkes Women's Volleyball Finishes MAC Freedom Play As They Fall To Delaware Valley
EDWARDSVILLE – Wilkes University women's volleyball concludes Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) competition as they fall in four sets to Delaware Valley University (22-25, 23-25, 25-14, 18-25) on Thursday night at the Marts Center.
Wilkes will drop to 7-20 on the year, and finish their final season in the MAC Freedom with a 2-6 record. Delaware Valley ends their regular season at 12-10 on the year and 2-6 in conference play.
The first set would see the Aggies go out to an early lead 6-3, but Alexis Reedy's (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra Area) kill, along with Hope Ousey (Exton, PA/Henderson) Allison Murie (Mays Landing, NJ/Oakcrest) block, to get the Colonels within one point. Delaware Valley would take a 11-3 run as Gretta Schneider, Zoe Miller, Grace Kane, and Emma Helverson all get a kill during that run. Delaware Valley would keep their offensive attack going, eventually holding a 23-15 lead. Wilkes would start a late run, earning six straight points with Nicole Fitzpatrick (New Hampton, NY/Minisink Valley), Sierra Hines (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Holy Redeemer), and Alexa Cassel (Mount Joy, PA/Lower Dauphin) earn a kill to pull within two points and make the set 23-21. The Aggies would take two of the final three points to hold off the Colonel comeback and take the first set 25-22.
The second set saw Wilkes have a small edge over Delaware Valley, with both teams being close within score as the Colonels would have a 9-7 lead. Cassel and Kelsey Carroll (Jim Thorpe, PA/Jim Thorpe) would get their own kills before Delaware Valley would take the next four points and be ahead 15-14. Neither team would try to slow down, as the Aggies and Colonels would go on their own runs and trading the lead back and forth, with Wilkes getting ahead late in the second set 22-20 as Hines would have multiple kills during those exchanges. Delaware Valley would close out the game once again, earning five of the last six points to take the second set 25-23.
Delaware Valley wou d jump out early in the third set as Grace Kane kill, along with blocks from Elverson and Schneider, would get ahead of Wilkes 4-1. The Colonels would not go away, as they would rely on Reedy, Fitzpatrick, and Jessica Salus (Shavertown, PA/Lake Lehman) to get kills and help Wilkes earn 12 of the next 14 points and take the lead 13-6. After Delaware Valley earned the next four of the next five points, the Colonels would score six straight as they would extend their lead to 20-10. The Aggies would try to chip at the lead, but Wilkes would finish strong and take the third set 25-14.
The fourth set would see Delaware Valley have a slight edge over Wilkes as they would take a 9-7 lead. Wilkes would not let the set get out of hand as they would keep up with the Aggies, slowly inching at the lead as a Reedy kill and Emily Gentzel (Yaphank, NY/Bellport) service ace would cut Delaware Valley's lead to 16-14. Delaware Valley would pick up momentum as the Aggies would go on a 9-4 run to conclude the fourth set and finish the series 25-18.
Hines would lead the Colonels with 14 kills and 4 blocks on the night, with Fitzpatrick following suit with 13 kills of her own. Cassel would have 37 assists on the night, as well as 15 digs. Ousey would be second on the team with three blocks.
The Colonels will conclude their regular season games this Saturday as they will compete in non-conference competition when they host Rutgers University-Newark at 1:00 p.m. in the Marts Center for Senior Day.
