VIDEO INTERVIEW - HEAD COACH TIM O'BRIEN
WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Wilmington College volleyball team snapped a 59-match Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) losing streak on Tuesday evening, defeating Capital University 3-1 (26-24, 25-18, 23-25, 25-16) on the home finale for the Fightin' Quakers.
Wilmington's last OAC win came in a five-set win over John Carroll University on Oct. 8, 2011.
Both teams hit under a .050 attack percentage in the first set with Capital tallying a dozen kills to nine for Wilmington. The Quakers, however, took advantage of six Crusader service errors including one at 24-24 to take the first set.
In set two, neither team led by more than three points until Summer Wilbur stepped up the service line with her team ahead 16-15. A service ace, four Capital attack errors and a kill from Karrah Wind fueled a service run for the hosts. The run came to an end with a service error, but a kills from Wind gave Wilmington set point, and after Capital fought off two of them, Jillian Wesco put down a kill to give the Quakers a 2-0 lead.
Set three saw Wilmington get out to a 12-8 lead, but Capital stormed back with a 7-1 run to take a 15-13 edge. The Quakers would regain a 20-18 advantage thanks to a kill from Meghan Koch, but a Miranda Jordan service run gave Capital the third set.
The Crusaders looked to force the match into a decisive fifth set as the visitors led 14-10 in set four, but a Wesco kill followed by a nine-point service run from the sophomore saw Wilmington lead 19-14. Capital would get a side out, but a kills from Mariella Szrom and Morgan Loomis sent Wilbur back to the service line leading 21-16. Wilbur served out the final four points giving the Quakers their first OAC victory in over six seasons.
Wilmington hit .060 as a team compared to .043 for Capital. Capital tallied 14 more kills than Wilmington, but committed 15 more attack errors. The hosts block paled a big part in the visitor's offensive struggles, tallying 11 team blocks. The Quakers also won the service game with 10 aces and five errors compared to three aces and 13 errors for the Crusaders.
Individually, Wind led Wilmington with 11 kills while Szrom had six. Wilbur and Jacie Koontz combined for 28 assists while Wesco, Karley Schlensker and Koontz all finished with double-digit digs. Wind, Szrom and Koch all finished with at least five block assists.
Delanie Nahikian led Capital with 14 kills in defeat. Isabel Jimenez dished out 29 assists while Nahikian had 22 digs to lead the Crusaders back row.
Wilmington (8-19, 1-7 OAC) concludes its 2018 season at John Carroll on Saturday.
