Wilkes Women's Volleyball Opens Landmark Play With a 3-1 Win Over Goucher College
 

BALTIMORE, Md. – The Wilkes women's volleyball team beat Goucher College in their conference opener Friday evening, winning 3-1. 

After tonight's win, Wilkes improves to 1-0 in conference play and 11-7 overall, while Goucher falls to 0-1 in conference play and 6-10 overall. 

Goucher came out hot in the first set, taking an early lead, but Wilkes fought back to tie the score at 9 all. The Colonels secured the lead with a 7-4 run, helped on by two kills from Kendra Kalp (Somerset, PA/Rockwood), and Ally Sheridan (Hanover Township, PA/Hanover Area) adding one service ace and a kill. The Gophers closed the gap to one point from the navy and gold (17-16), but Wilkes put up an 8-1 run to grab the set win 25-17.

With momentum on their side, the Colonels took a healthy 12-5 lead at the start of the second set. A 7-2 run helped put Goucher back in the game, coming within two points of Wilkes. Refusing to give up the lead, Ava Wahlers (Coudersport, PA/Coudersport) put down two big kills to assist the Colonels in taking the second set, 25-23. 

Wilkes opened set three going point-for-point with Goucher, but the Gophers put up a 7-2 run to take the lead 20-15. The Colonels answered back with three kills from Wahlers and Dornblaser, which prompted a Goucher timeout (20-18). The Gophers rallied back to end the set with a 5-1 run and a final score of 25-20.

Set four started in Goucher's favor, as they jumped to a 6-3 lead, but Wilkes answered back with a 12-3 run. Dornblaser and Kalp each recorded kills in the run while Annalyse Santowasso (Middlesex, NJ/Rutgers Prep) and Dornblaser each recorded service aces. The Colonels kept the Gophers at bay and were able to cruise to the win with a 9-4 run to finalize the set at 25-15. 

Wahlers led the Colonels in kills with 13 while Dornblaser and Kalp recorded 11 and 10 respectively. Rachael Anderson (Canmore, AB/West Island College) led in the assists, recording 25, and Santowasso put up 17 digs to lead the defense. 

The Colonels return to action Saturday, October 4, where they travel to Washington, Dc. for a tri-match against Landmark competitor Catholic University and Salisbury University at 12:00p.m. and 2:30p.m.