OLIVET, Michigan - The Wilmington College volleyball team rebounded from a pair of defeats on Friday to end the Albion-Olivet Tournament with an even 2-2 record as the Fightin' Quakers swept the host Comets 25-13, 25-19, 25-17 and edged Spalding University in five sets 25-15, 23-25, 25-13, 24-26, 15-3 on Saturday.
In the victory over the Comets, the Fightin' Quakers hit a .210 clip while holding the Comets under a .100 attack percentage for the match. WC used a balanced offensive attack as five Quakers - Sydney Geibel, Joy Bebe, Sarah Brown, Sofia Thomas and Bailey Pohlman - tallied at least five kills. Setter Andie Dolven dished out 26 assists while Blake O'Brien tallied 15 digs. Olivet was led by the duo of Morgan Dillon and Violet Porter who combined for 14 kills.
In the match with the Eagles, Wilmington hit a blistering .324 in the first set and took the frame 25-13, but found itself in a battle in set two. Spalding took a 20-16 lead on consecutive kills from Jordyn Sarver, but after a timeout from Head Coach Sophie Windover, three straight WC points capped by a Pohlman made it a one-point set. Both teams traded three point runs, but a Geibel kill extended the Quaker run to four and tied the set 23-23. Spalding came through with the final two points, however, to level the match at one set all.
History seemed to repeat itself over the next to sets as the Quakers won set three by the same score as they did in set one (25-13) and the Eagles countered with a narrow victory in set four. Wilmington buckled down in the all-important fifth set, however, putting down five kills without an error. Additionally, the Quakers forced Spalding into six attack errors and just two kills to win the set 15-3 and the match.
Geibel and Lili Green both had 13 kills while Green led the team with a .393 attack percentage. Dolven crossed the 1,000 career assist mark by assisting on 47 of WC's 56 kills as a team while O'Brien had 40 digs in the five-set match that spanned just over two hours. Sarver and Jayda Branch combined for 21 kills in defeat for Spalding.
Wilmington returns to action at Bluffton University on Wednesday. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
