ALLIANCE, Ohio – Junior Sydney Fitzcharles finished a dig shy of a career-high, while senior Katie Billetdeaux and Hayley Nash combined for 25 kills to lead The College of Wooster volleyball team to its first win of the young season on Friday afternoon. The Fighting Scots downed Thiel College 25-15, 17-25, 29-27, 25-20 to cap day one of the University of Mount Union Fall Invitational after falling to the host Purple Raiders 25-20, 25-17, 25-22 earlier in the day.
Billetdeaux's kill on set point in the third frame kept Wooster (1-2) from going down 2-1 against Thiel. Nash followed with an ace, and two points later, a kill from senior Seven Townsel gave Wooster its second set point. Thiel's Danielle Aulet couldn't convert on an attack attempt, giving Wooster the 2-1 edge in the process.
Nash's strong service game factored heavily into the decisive fourth set, as the junior served up ace number three of the nightcap during a key 5-0 stretch that saw Wooster grab a 7-4 lead. Later, a second 5-0 run enabled the Scots to seize a 14-11 lead. Junior Emily Gail, Nash, and senior Brooke Swain logged kills during that scoring burst, while junior Maley Tinstman fired off the Scots' seventh ace of the match.
At the onset, Fitzcharles spearheaded Wooster's strong start with 12 digs in the opening set, while Billetdeaux paced the attack with five kills on eight swings. Wooster, which had a combined seven kills in the opening frame from Gail and Nash, hit .281 collectively, while also holding the Tomcats to a .057 attack percentage.
Nash's 14 kills were the match-high versus Thiel, and Billetdeaux backed that up with 11. Fitzcharles logged 31 digs to lead four Scots in double figures, including senior Syd Case and Nash, who both finished with double-doubles.
Maria Torres had 10 kills and 10 digs for Thiel.
Like the nightcap – although not on set point – Wooster had an identical sequence in the third set where a Billetdeaux kill was followed by a Nash ace. That came during a 4-0 stretch, with back-to-back bad sets by Mount Union's Mollie Thomas capping the run and pulling the Scots within 21-19. Later, Townsel's kill pulled the Scots within two at 22-20.
Billetdeaux had top honors on Wooster's squad with 11 kills against Mount Union. Fitzcharles' 11 digs were the team-high.
The Purple Raiders' Darby Leininger matched Billetdeaux with 11 kills, while Alyssa Kasaris had 13 digs.
Wooster wraps up play at the Mount Union Invitational against Baldwin Wallace University and Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday. First serve for the Scots is set for 2 p.m.