WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Wilmington College volleyball team fell victim to the University of Mount Union in straight sets on Saturday as the Purple Raiders defeated the Fightin' Quakers 25-13, 15-14, 25-19 in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) action.
Wilmington came out of the gates playing some of its best volleyball of the season against the 19-2 Purple Raiders as Karrah Wind put down three kills fueling a 7-4 start for the Quakers. The Purple Raiders bounced back to take a 12-9 lead thanks to a service run from Carly Stepic. Wilmington answered with a 4-0 run thanks to three Mount Union attack errors and another kill from Wind. The run forced a timeout from Mount Union Head Coach Melissa Mahnke.
The Purple Raiders earned a side out immediately off the timeout and rattled off 12 consecutive points on the serve of Megan Donegan to take the first set. The break between sets wouldn't halt the visitors as Donegan served seven straight points to begin set two. Wilmington would not get closer than six points.
Wilmington won the first point of set three on a setting error from Mount Union, but a Purple Raiders kill sent Donegan back to the service line once again. She served six consecutive points to give Mount Union a 7-1 lead it would not relinquish.
Mount Union hit a .253 clip in the match compared to an even .000 for Wilmington. The Quakers countered with eight team blocks while the Purple Raiders had six.
Individually, Kirsten Powell led everyone with 10 kills while Kyleigh Jackson for Mount Union and Wind for Wilmington both had seven. Mariella Szrom put down five kills. Stepic dished out 33 assists for the Purple Raiders while Grace Ewing and Jacie Koontz combined for 19 assists for the Quakers.
In the back row, Schlensker led everyone with 19 digs while both Donegan and Allison Baird had 13 for Mount Union. Szrom, Wesco and Rox all had at least three block assists for Wilmington.
The Quakers (5-15, 0-3 OAC) continue conference play at Ohio Northern University on Tuesday.
