Dillard Matches Career-High at John Carroll

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – Senior Caroline Dillard followed up a career-high in kills with a second straight 14-kill performance in Wednesday evening's 25-19, 16-25, 25-15, 25-17 John Carroll University win over The College of Wooster volleyball team at the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center.

While Dillard's kills jumped out on the stat sheet, it was actually Wooster's (2-2) strong, collective presence at the net that enabled the Fighting Scots to tie the match at one. Four Wooster blocks were recorded in the Scots' set-two win, and that cooled the Blue Streaks off to a .000 hitting percentage for the frame. First-year Jordan Laraway and junior Amelia Mitchell had three blocks each in the frame, and first-year Kora Burill teamed up with Mitchell on one of them.

Earlier, Burill's kill had Wooster within 12-11 in the first set. Wooster went on to climb within two at seven different junctures in set one, including at 18-16 when senior Troy Johnson denied Kendra Dziubinski at the net. First-year Emma Fleck's kill at 21-18 marked the closest Wooster came down the stretch.

Set three saw the Blue Streaks establish blocking dominance, with John Carroll swatting aside four Wooster attack attempts. In the fourth frame, a late comeback bid featured a 5-1 stretch that saw Laraway and senior Trinity Harmon serve up aces. Kills from Dillard and senior Ty Thompson were among the other positive scoring plays.

Dillard's 14 kills were followed by Thompson's eight and Laraway's six. Five blocks from Mitchell accounted for over half of Wooster's eight. Fleck's 24 assists, Harmon's team-leading 12 digs, and Thompson's 11 digs ranked among the other noteworthy stats.

Jennifer Follmer led John Carroll with 11 kills, and Lexi MacDonald was the steady defensive presence with 18 digs.

Of note, Wooster's accuracy when it came to keeping serves in play was on point. Wooster's two service errors marked the fewest since – and coincidentally – last year's match against John Carroll.

Next, Wooster is hosting a pod of the North Coast Athletic Conference/Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Crossover. Wooster's play gets underway with a 2:30 p.m. match against Alma College (3-1) on Friday, September 8.

photo courtesy of the NCAC