WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster volleyball team handily won sets one and two, then mounted a furious comeback to keep the sweep of Wilmington College intact on Wednesday evening at Timken Gymnasium. The Fighting Scots won their fourth match in a row by a 25-18, 25-13, 26-24 line.
Wooster (4-2) leaned heavily on juniors Emily Gail and Hayley Nash down the stretch in set three. Nash pulled Wooster within 19-18 on back-to-back kills, and she later closed out the match with her sixth kill of the frame. Gail pulled Wooster within 23-22 with a kill, and she made it match point at 25-24 with a kill.
Big Wooster runs – with the Scots' middle hitters at the service line – emerged as the theme over the first two sets. In the first, Wooster had a 9-1 stretch that was capped by a Wilmington (2-2) attack error that made it 10-3. Prior to that, senior middle Katie Billetdeaux got the job done all over the court with a kill, block, and ace in a six-point span. Senior Seven Townsel logged two of her set-high five kills during the 9-1 spurt.
Sophomore middle Caroline Dillard's strong service game kept Wilmington from getting settled in at the onset of the second set, as Wooster raced out to a 6-0 lead. Later, Billetdeaux toed the service line during a 9-0 stretch, and Wooster took a commanding 17-5 lead during that run. Dillard, up front this time, took charge with two kills and a block while Billetdeaux was on the serving line.
Nash logged 12 kills to lead all players, while Townsel finished a kill shy of hitting double digits. Senior Syd Case had the Scots' attacking core on point all night with 34 of her 75 setting attempts going in the book as assists. The Scots hit a season-best .330.
Case's 10 digs led the way, Nash finished with nine, and junior Chloe Filippa Batoudaki had six.
Six Scots made their collegiate debut in the match, including first-year Tamara Turner, who led that group on the stat sheet with three kills, a dig, and a block.
Christina Yarian was Wilmington's leader with seven kills, and Blake O'Brien finished with 12 digs.
Next, Wooster takes on Adrian College (1-4) at the Battle at the Point at Cedar Point Sports Center at 5 p.m. on Friday, September 10.
photo by Abbi Tarburton '22