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| Taylor Mathews |
The College of Wooster volleyball team took DePauw University to five sets in the regular season, but the Tigers used a strong server to help spur themselves to a 25-20, 25-19, 25-14 sweep over the Fighting Scots in the opening round of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday evening at Pam Evans Smith Arena in Springfield, Ohio.
Wooster (17-10) was within three points at 16-13 in the first set. A kill by junior Ksenia Klue cut into DePauw's (23-4) lead making it 16-12 before a solo block by senior Lydia Webster capped a 7-2 Wooster run.
Wooster raced out to a 4-0 led in the second set behind back-to-back aces off the serve of senior Laura Sherer. A trio of 4-0 bursts by DePauw pulled the Tigers out in front by eight at 19-11, but Wooster did have a strong close to the set, outscoring DePauw 9-6 down the stretch.
In the third set, Wooster surged out of the game to take a 3-0 lead, when a kill from Klue capped that opening run. Later in the set, Wooster extended its lead back out to two at 11-9 on a kill by senior Anna Emmick and a bad set by DePauw.
Emmick led the attack on the evening with eight kills, while Webster backed her up with seven.
Defensively, sophomore Gabrielle Basinski recorded a team-high 12 digs, while junior Taylor Mathews added 10 digs to couple with 20 assists for a double-double.
Sherer served up three of Wooster's six aces on the night.
Gabi Allread and Suzanne Peters had eight kills each for DePauw.
Next, Wooster plays Kenyon College (16-12) in the consolation semifinals at 10 a.m. on Saturday.