Wooster Sweeps A Pair in Home-Opening Tri-Match

WOOSTER, Ohio - The College of Wooster tallied a pair of non-conference victories Friday evening during its 2008 home-opening matches inside Timken Gymnasium as part of a tri-match with Otterbein College and Ursuline College. With the two wins, the Fighting Scots improve their record to 4-6 overall.

Looking to utilize home-floor advantage for the first time, the Scots came out with a purpose in its two matches on Friday, winning each in convincing fashion. First, Wooster disposed of Otterbein (3-7) in three games (25-21, 25-22, 25-18) to open the 2008 home schedule. Seniors Abbie Casey and Megan Earle along with junior KateLynn Riley led the Scots' offense with nine kills apiece.

Defensively, senior libero Ali Drushal paced the team with 25 digs, while Earle tacked on nine. Freshman Sarah Hawke and junior Sarah Lorch dominated the net for Wooster, as the tandem combined for one solo block and 11 block assists.

Urusline (5-6) became the Scots' next victim after the Arrows downed Otterbein in four games during the evening's second match. Ursuline rallied from down two games to none against Wooster and took the third set, but the Scots eventually prevailed in four (25-20, 25-8, 18-25, 25-16). Riley continued her hot hitting streak with 18 kills on 35 attempts with just two errors for a .457 hitting percentage for the Scots, while Earle was right behind her with 11 of her own. Freshman setter Lizzi Beal chipped in with six kills, while dishing out 30 assists against the Cardinals, and tacked on 38 assists against the Arrows.

Drushal led the Wooster back row with a season-high 39 digs against Ursuline, giving her 2,584 for her career, and now sits 106 away from tying the North Coast Athletic Conference mark of 2,690 set by Wittenberg's Emilie Schmid. Sophomores Abby Jensen and Amanda Gottesman, along with Earle, Beal and Casey were all in double figures in digs with 21, 15, 18, 12 and 13, respectively.

Wooster has a week off before it travels to Hiram College (4-6, 1-0 NCAC) for another tri-match on Friday evening, including its NCAC opening match with the Terriers slated to start at 4:30 p.m., followed by a non-conference showdown with Defiance College (6-5) at 6:30 p.m.