Riley Reaches Milestone, Scots Move Into Second in Comeback Thriller

Junior hitter KateLynn Riley became the sixth player in school history to reach the 1,000-kill mark for her career on Tuesday night, and helped The College of Wooster volleyball team comeback from a two-set deficit against North Coast Athletic Conference foe Allegheny College inside the David V. Wise Center in Meadville, Pa. for a 3-2 win. With the victory, Wooster sweeps the season series with the Gators, each coming in five sets, and takes over sole possession of second place in the conference with a 9-3 record.

Wooster dropped the first two sets of the match 25-18 and 25-16. However, the visiting Scots dug out of that hole, and took sets three (25-18), four (25-12), and five (15-13) in convincing fashion for the come-from-behind key conference win.

Riley posted a career-high 29 kills, including nine in the decisive fifth set, with just six errors in 64 attempts on Tuesday, giving her 374 this season and 1,003 for her career. She joins Tiffany Rice (1,750 kills from 2002-05), Erin Schaffner (1,362 kills from 2003-06), Mandy Rearick (1,238 kills from 1996-99), Erin Donnell (1,162 kills from 1999-2002), and Carrie Zuro (1,044 kills from 1993-96) as the only Wooster players to reach that level.

Riley's night wasn't finished there, with the third-year Scot tallying a team-best four service aces, and four total blocks, including a solo block.

Other individual highlights for the Scots included the play of freshman Kate Brady, who came off the bench in the final three sets to spark the Wooster offense, recording a career-high 10 kills with just two errors on 16 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage. Additionally, senior Megan Earle chipped in with eight kills to go along with 23 digs, and freshman Sarah Hawke contributed five kills.

Freshman setter Lizzi Beal handed out 50 assists, while senior libero Ali Drushal inched closer to the 3,000-dig milestone with a team-high 24 digs. The school's all-time leader in career digs, Drushal needs just 75 more digs to reach that mark.

Wooster continues North Coast Athletic Conference action and stays on the road Friday when it travels to Oberlin College (6-18, 5-7 NCAC) for a match with the Yeowomen scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.