Wooster Takes Down Greensburg, Kalamazoo on Opening Day of Kilt Classic

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster upped its record to 5-4 on the season by winning a pair of matches to open the program's Ginny Hunt Kilt Classic. The Fighting Scots defeated the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg 25-22, 25-19, 25-20 to open the day and then toppled Kalamazoo College 25-14, 17-25, 26-24, 25-17 in the nightcap.

Wooster never trailed in either of the first two sets against Greensburg. The Scots used a 7-0 run early in the first set to build an early 12-5 advantage. Wooster's lead was trimmed down to two at 24-22, but a kill from senior Olivia Kitchen gave the Scots the opening set. In the second, the Scots raced out to a 16-4 lead and held a 24-12 advantage before closing out the set 25-19.

The Scots had to rally from an early 13-7 deficit in the third set. Trailing by six, Wooster rattled off a 10-1 run to move in front at 17-14 before slowly pulling away for the 25-20 victory to complete the three-set sweep.

Wooster hit .175 for the match, totaling 40 kills and 20 errors in 114 attempts. Senior Amelia Mitchell led a balanced attack, finishing with nine kills while hitting .412, both team highs. Senior Tamara Turner totaled eight kills while first-year Mary-Catherine Werth and junior Izzy Cozzie added five kills apiece. Cozzie finished with a team-best eight digs in the victory. Sophomore Emma Fleck added a team-high 31 assists to go with a pair of aces.

Madison Friess led Pitt-Greensburg (1-8) in the loss, finishing with eight kills and nine digs. Alanaa Meloy recorded 11 digs for the Bobcats while Grace Bradley totaled 14 assists.

Wooster ran its winning streak to three in the nightcap. With the first set even at 12-12, the Scots won 13 of the next 15 points to close out the set 25-14. Sophomore Kora Burill put away three straight kills off Kalamazoo overpasses at the end of the set.

Kalamazoo (5-6) answered back in the second set, capping the set with a 9-1 run to even the match at a set apiece.

Neither squad led by more than three points in the third set. The Scots trailed 24-22 but rattled off four straight points to take the set 26-24. Two kills by Mitchell and  Fleck ace capped off Wooster's rally. Wooster scored the first seven points of the fourth set, two of which came on Mitchell blocks. Werth teamed up with Mitchell on the first one, while sophomore Jordan Laraway was in with Mitchell on the second. Wooster led by as many as 12 points before wrapping up the match with a 25-17 win in the fourth set.

Three Scots reached double figures in kills to lead the attack. Cozzie pounded down a team-leading 12 kills while Mitchell and Turner tallied 11 kills apiece. Turner finished with a double-double by recording 13 digs. Senior Lucy Kinser totaled a team-best 22 digs while Fleck compiled a team-leading 36 assists to go with 18 digs. Mitchell and Werth totaled three blocks apiece in the victory.

Wooster finished the contest hitting .148 with 48 kills and 24 errors in 162 attempts. The Scots totaled 10 aces and six total blocks in the victory.

Hannah VanderLugt paced Kalamazoo in the loss, tallying 10 kills and nine digs. Brittany Miller added nine kills and 12 digs. Rachel Meston totaled a match-high 48 digs for the Hornets.

Wooster closes out the Ginny Hunt Classic tomorrow, September 14, by facing Waynesburg University (1-5) at 2:30 p.m.