HANOVER, Indiana - The Wilmington College volleyball team took Berea College to five sets and fell to Trine University in straight sets on day one of the Hanover Invitational hosted by Hanover College on Friday evening. The Mountaineers defeated the Fightin' Quakers 22-25, 23-25, 25-19, 25-10, 15-5 while the Thunder won the nightcap 25-18, 25-14, 25-19.
In the match with Berea, Wilmington finished with 11 and 13 kills in the first two sets respectively to win two close sets. In set one, a service run from Blake O'Brien with the set tied 14-14 gave the Quakers a five-point cushion they wouldn't relinquish. In the second set, WC trailed 20-17, but rallied on the back of the serves of both Andie Dolven and Victoria Long to earn set point. There, a Dolven found Cadin Reveal for the kill. Unfortunately for the Quakers, they couldn't regain the offensive form in the final three sets while the Mountains hit a .323 clip in set four and a .400 clip (nine kills and just one error) in the final set.
Wilmington hit a .097 attack percentage for the match with Sofia Thomas's 11 kills leading the way. Three other Quakers - Sydney Geibel, Joy Bebe and Cadin Reveal - had a half-dozen kills or more. Dolven dished out 32 assists to go along with 10 digs and five service aces while O'Brien had 13 digs.
Berea tallied a .254 attack percentage with Carolina Robles, Isabel Marquez and Brenda Davila all finished with double digits in kills while Fabiana De Jesus added a match-high 24 digs in the Mountaineer back row.
In the match with Trine, the Quakers never really got going offensively, hitting a negative attack percentage in the final two sets and finishing all three sets with exactly six kills. Reveal led the team with a six-kill performance to go along with three blocks while O'Brien had 13 digs. For Trine, five individuals - Jocelynn Nicholls, Olivia Jolliffe, Jacqueline Baughman, Anna Loughrey and Chloe Behm - all had six or more kills.
Wilmington (2-9) finishes out the weekend with matches against Franklin College and host Hanover tomorrow (Saturday).
