MEMPHIS, Tennessee - The Wilmington College volleyball team concluded the Rhodes College Classic with a split of matches on Saturday, defeating the host Lynx 27-25, 25-23, 12-25, 27-25 and falling to LeTourneau University (Texas) 25-18, 25-22, 25-16.
In the victory over Rhodes, the Fightin' Quakers were able to win all three close sets by delivering on the rallies that mattered most. In set one, WC took multiple five-point leads (6-1 and 17-12), but saw both of those leads evaporate. Rhodes would earn two set points at 24-22, but a Sydney Geibel kill followed by a Lynx attack error fought off both of them. Another attack error from the hosts gave WC a set point, but a service error kept the game going. Another Geibel kill and yet another Rhodes attack error gave WC the set one victory. Neither team led by more than three points in set two, but with the game tied 23-23, consecutive bad sets from Gabriele Kozik put the Quakers up 2-0.
Set three went to Rhodes as the Lynx hit a .286 clip with 14 kills while Wilmington had just five kills and five errors. Set four proved to be a repeat of set once in score, but not how the final points played out. This time, it was WC that had a lead (23-18 and 24-22), but Rhodes put down two kills and a block to earn a set point of its own. Once again, however, the Lynx offense coulnd't keep the ball in the court as three consecutive attack errrors ended the match.
The Lynx finished with a 61-43 advantage in kills as well as hit a higher clip for the match, but couldn't win the critical points in the first, second and fourth sets. The hosts used a quartet attack as Gabrielle White, Shayla Garrison, Kym Young and Mary Oldham all put down between 12-14 kills. Brenna Weyant dished out 37 assists while Maggie Mathis had a team-best 25 digs. For Wilmington, Sofia Thomas, Victoria Long and Lili Green all had at least eight kills while Green turned in a .438 attack percentage. Setter Andie Dolven assisted on 34 kills while O'Brien had that many digs.
In the loss to the YellowJackets, the Quakers' best offensive set came in set two where WC tallied 16 kills on 61 swings with seven errors, but couldn't come all the way back to win the set.
Joy Bebe hit a .455 clip with 11 kills on 22 swings and one attack error while Dolven and Kyra Fraiser split the setting duties by dishing out 19 assists. O'Brien added 19 digs while Bailey Pohlman had three solo blocks. Hannah Payan put down 14 kills for LeTourneau in the victory.
Wilmington (3-7) will host Franklin College for the Quakers' home opener on Tuesday evening.
