Wilkes Women's Volleyball Gets Comeback in Third Set to Sweep CCNY
NEW YORK, NY – Wilkes University women's volleyball overcame a 16-7 deficit in the third set to earn the sweep victory over The City College of New York (25-16, 25-16, 25-23) Monday night at CCNY's Nat Holman Gymnasium.
Wilkes improves their record to 4-14 on the year, while CCNY falls to 9-3.
The first set saw the Colonels get off to a hot start, going on a 6-1 run that saw kills from Hope Ousey (Exton, PA/Henderson) and Sierra Hines (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Holy Redeemer) while Alexa Cassel (Mount Joy, PA/Lower Dauphin) had a service ace. Wilkes would keep their run going, leading the Beavers 15-6. After CCNY earned three straight points to cut the Colonel lead, both teams would exchange points that would make Wilkes lead 20-16. Kelsey Carroll (Jim Thorpe, PA/Jim Thorpe) and Allison Murie (Mays Landing, NJ/Oakcrest) would get kills, along with some attack errors from CCNY, helped give the Colonels five straight points and take the first set 25-16.
The second set saw both teams exchanging the lead early on, with the Beavers taking a 6-4 advantage. Wilkes would respond by earning eight straight points behind kills from Murie and Nicole Fitzpatrick (New Hampton, NY/Minisink Valley) that would force CCNY to call two timeouts during that span. Both teams would exchange points before another Colonels run, this time they would get six straight points, with Ousey getting multiple kills, to give Wilkes a 23-9 lead. The Beavers would try to make a comeback, earning six straight points to cut Wilkes lead 23-15. Wilkes would get two of the last three points to take the second set 25-16.
The third set would see CCNY get off to a hot start by taking the first eight points and holding a demanding lead over Wilkes. Kills from Fitzpatrick and Ally Sheridan (Hanover Township, PA/Hanover) would try and keep the Colonels in contention, but CCNY kept their foot on the gas pedal, taking a 16-7 lead. Wilkes would begin their process of making a comeback, earning five straight points behind two Olivia Marsh (East Hampton, CT/East Hampton) service aces. Both teams would exchange points back and forth, with the Colonels inching closer to the Beavers lead, only being down 23-20 in the latter part of the third set. A block from Hines, a service ace from Marsh, and three Fitzpatrick kills, including the last point that saw the officials switch their decision from a Beavers earned point to the Colonels, would push Wilkes past CCNY in the third set and take the series 25-23.
Fitzpatrick led the Colonels with 14 kills on the night, adding 13 digs as well for her first career double-double. Ousey followed behind her with seven kills, while Cassel had 27 assists. Marsh had three service aces, with Cassel and Carroll had two apiece. Murie and Hines had three and two blocks respectively.
Wilkes will return home on Wednesday as they compete in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) action when they host Lycoming College at 7:00 p.m.
