WILMINGTON, Ohio - John Carroll University (JCU) spoiled the Wilmington College women's volleyball team's Senior Day with a straight-set, 25-19, 25-18, 25-16 victory at Hermann Court on Saturday afternoon.
The Fightin' Quakers took a 9-6 lead in set one thanks to a pair of kills from both Jillian Wesco and Meghan Koch. A Karley Schlensker service ace gave the hosts a 9-6 edge, but the Blue Streaks' Ally Bartolone stepped up to serve after a sideout and served nine straight points for JCU. A second timeout from Wilmington Head Coach Andy Riesenberg ended the run as a service error followed, but the deficit proved to be too big for the Quakers to overcome.
JCU opened the second set on an 8-3 run, but thanks to a stellar hitting percentage in the set (.306 on 12 kills and just one error), Wilmington battled back to tie it as Wesco put down a kill off an assist from fellow Miami East High School alumna Taylor McCuistion. Unfortunately for Wilmington, it would suffer the same fate as in set one as the Blue Streaks won 10 of the next 13 points to take the set.
Set three saw the Quakers revert back to a .000 attack percentage while JCU put down 11 kills and just two errors.
Wilmington finished with 32 kills hitting a .145 clip as Wesco had a dozen, McCuistion tallied eight and Mariella Szrom put down seven kills and had a team-best .333 attack percentage. Wesco and McCuistion split hte setting duties with 12 and 16 assists respectively. Schlensker had 15 digs in the Quakers' back row.
The Blue Streaks finished the match with a hitting percentage of .268 and 41 kills including eight from Cassi Calamunci. Four other JCU individuals had at least five kills while Bartolone dished out 23 assists. Anna Couglin led the Blue Streak back row with 16 digs.
The match marked the end of the careers of six seniors - Jillian Wesco, Taylor McCuistion, Morgan Loomis, Hannah Salyers, Meghan Koch and Summer Wilbur.
Wilmington finishes its 2019 season with a 3-24 overall record and an 0-9 mark in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) competition.
