WILBERFORCE – The Wilmington College volleyball dropped a pair of three-set matches on Wednesday, falling to West Virginia State University 25-12, 25-22, 25-7 and to host Central State University 26-24, 26-24, 25-16.
In the match with WVSU, the Fightin’ Quakers were competitive in set two, as consecutive kills from Sofia Thomas tied the set 15-15. The Yellow Jackets responded with a 9-4 run, however, to earn set point. Wilmington fought off three of them by forcing two attack error along with a Sydney Geibel service ace, but an attack error from Thomas gave WVSU the set. In sets one and three, Wilmington was held to a negative hitting percentage.
Joy Bebe, Thomas and Geibel combined for a total of 13 kills while Andie Dolven finished with 13 assists and a dozen digs. Alex Garby led everyone with 10 kills and a .714 attack percentage for WVSU while Kiersten Eggleton and Peri Martin both combined for 18 assists.
In the matchup with Central State, Wilmington took a 15-9 lead in set one on consecutive aces from Dolven and a kill from Shelby Stoops. The Quakers would see that six-point advantage cut in half at 20-17, and the Marauders rode that momentum to win seven of the next 10 points and earn a set point at 24-23. A Stoop kill tied the set, but two straight kills from the hosts ended it.
Set two was also a set of runs as the Quakers built a 16-11 lead that forced a Central State timeout. Six straight Marauder points followed, but Wilmington quickly regained control with a Victoria Long service run that, after a couple of side outs, eventually led to a 24-21 advantage. Just like in set one, however, Central State ended strong, rattling off five straight points to take the set by the exact same score as the first, 26-24. The hosts rode the 2-0 lead to a set three victory.
Stoops, Geibel, Thomas and Christina Yarian all tallied at least half a dozen kills while Dolven dished out 15 assists. Blake O’Brien had 18 digs to go with seven assists.
Central State was led by Jazmyne Walker with 14 kills. Makayla Alia and Kyla Adams shared the setting duties to the tune of 37 assists.
Wilmington returns home to host Heidelberg University in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opener and Adrian College in a tri-match.
