Meghan Botsch

Ashley Plassard

The College of Wooster volleyball team capped its weekend at the University of Mount Union Invitational with a thrilling come-from-behind 23-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-12, 15-7 win over Grove City College, and overall, the Fighting Scots split a quartet of matches at the two-day invitational at Alliance, Ohio.

Noteworthy, Wooster's (2-2) rally back to win from two sets down came six years to the day from the Fighting Scots' last such rally, as the Black & Gold stormed back to top Thiel College 21-25, 12-25, 25-18, 25-19, 15-13 on Sept. 1, 2012.

Coincidentally, Wooster's other win on the weekend came against Thiel, but this time a sweep was in order for the Scots, with a score line of 25-16, 25-23, 26-24 capping Friday night's action.

In the season-opener all-invitational team honoree Ashley Plassard led the charge with a team-high seven kills on 10 swings, but Wooster couldn't get past host Mount Union, which swept aside the Scots 25-22, 25-13, 25-19 on Friday afternoon. Wooster, which finished third in blocks per set in the conference in 2017, jumped out to a strong start in that facet of the game with six, including three by senior Eleri Miller. Sophomore Meghan Botsch paced the Scots with 14 assists, while senior Gabrielle Basinski tallied a team-high seven digs.

First-year Brooke Swain led Wooster during Friday's 180-degree turnaround with 14 kills against Thiel, while Plassard backed that up with eight kills and five blocks. Three Scots – Basinski, senior Jordan Murray and first-year Seven Townsel – each logged double-digit digs, while collectively tallying 34. Other notable stats included 30 assists and six digs by Botsch.

In Saturday's opener, Wooster went toe-to-toe with the University of Massachusetts Boston, a 2017 Div. III Championships qualifier, but the match ultimately shifted in favor of the Beacons 25-23, 27-25, 25-15. Senior Marija Cyvas led the way for Wooster with eight kills, while Plassard kept up her strong weekend with seven kills on 11 attack attempts.

Botsch distributed 16 assists against the Beacons, and Basinski tallied up nine digs.

A pair of career-high performances in the form of 26 Botsch digs and 10 Plassard blocks headlined the statistical performances from the Grove City match, and both student-athletes turned in double-doubles with 14 assists and 13 kills, respectively. Worth noting, the double-double marked a first for Plassard, and it's the most blocks by a Scot since alumna Lydia Webster totaled 14 against Denison University on Oct. 19, 2016.

Next, Wooster travels to Franciscan University of Steubenville (0-4) for a 7 p.m. match on Tuesday, Sept. 4.