WILKES-BARRE – In the team's first home tri-match of the year the Wilkes University women's volleyball team split with Bard College and Penn State Abington, defeating the former 3-2 and bested by the latter by the same scoreline.
The Colonels ended the day with an overall record of 2-7.
Wilkes opened the day against the Raptors of Bard, who led comfortably for a majority of the first set. With the score 11-23 Bard, Wilkes went on a 6-0 run with three straight service aces from Rachel Anderson that brought the Colonels up to 23-17, but Bard took the set 18-25.
The Raptors carried that lead into the second set 3-7, but an 11-1 run by the Colonels swung the set in their favor 14-8. The Colonels fought off a late Bard comeback, with kills from
Ally Sheridan (Hanover Township, PA/Hanover Area) and
Jenna Baron (Nanticoke, PA/Greater Nanticoke Area) putting the set away 25-19.
Following a third set loss, the Colonels won the fourth set 25-17, thanks to four kills, an ace, and a block from Baron. The set victory propelled Wilkes to an early lead in the fifth set 9-3, and despite a small Raptor comeback,
Sierra Hines (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Holy Redeemer) dished out two kills and a block to seal the victory for the blue and gold 15-8.
Hines led the Colonel attack with 14 kills and three blocks, followed by Baron with nine kills.
Alexa Cassel (Mount Joy, PA/Lower Dauphin) led the team with 30 assists and 15 digs.
Kendra Kalp (Somerset, PA/Rockwood) and
Annalyse Santowasso (Middlesex, NJ/Rutgers Prep) tied Cassel on the defensive front with 15 digs each as well.
In the match against Penn State Abington, the Colonels responded to a 15-25 first set loss by storming out to a 10-3 lead in the second set with two kills and two aces from Kalp. Wilkes scored 6 of the last 7 points of the set and never gave up the lead as they won 25-16.
Penn State Abington came back from an 8-15 deficit to within one point at 18-19. The Colonels held strong, with a service ace from Anderson putting the set away 25-21 and giving Wilkes a 2-1 lead.
In the fourth set, Wilkes found themselves on the verge of a fifth set down 15-23 and clawed their way back with nine-straight points to take a 24-23 lead, led by four aces from Cassel. Abington forced the set to extra points, and eventually took the set 27-25.
In the fifth set, a 1-5 run by Abington with the score tied at 10 gave the Nittany Lions the win.
Hines led the Colonels with 20 kills, with Baron and Sheridan reaching double-digits with 16 and 10 respectively. Cassel dished out 40 assists and had six service aces. Cassel also led the team with 24 digs, followed by Santowasso with 20.
The Colonels finish their five game homestand on Wednesday, September 25 as they host Neumann University at 7:00 p.m.
