University of Delaware Athletics
Three Sets Go to Extra Points but Delaware Volleyball Falls to Villanova, 3-1
9/6/2011 4:29:00 PM | Volleyball
VILLANOVA, Pa. - - The University of Delaware volleyball team took Villanova to extra points in three sets, but could only come out on top in one game, falling to the Wildcats, 3-1, on Tuesday in the Jake Nevin Fieldhouse.
Set scores for the match were 27-25, 28-30, 25-20, and 29-27.
Senior setter Renee Tomko (above right) collected her first twenty-twenty performance of her career as she posted 44 assists and 20 digs to help on both sides of the ball for Delaware (1-6).
Cara Rosehill has a career and team high 30 digs for the Blue Hens, while three other also added double-digit dig efforts. Tomko's 20 were joined by Kim Stewart and Alissa Alker's 19. Alker (below right) also collected 17 kills, tying a match high. Katie Hank was the only other Blue Hen in double figures with 15 kills.
Villanova (5-2) had three players with double digit kills, led by Morgan Petkovich's 17. Allie DiBernardo dished out a match high 52 assists to lead the Wildcats on their home floor.
The Blue Hens have lost six matches in their first seven contests after dropping six matches all of last season.
Delaware was trailing the first set 21-19 before a kill by Karina Evans, sandwiched around a pair of Wildcat errors, gave the Blue Hens the lead late in the set. The teams went on the seesaw for the next five points before a service ace gave the Wildcats a 25-24 advantage.
Out of a timeout, Alker earned a kill due to a block error by Krista Andersen, tied the game at 25-25, but two points for the home team ended the game at 27-25.
A five-point run gave the Blue hens a 12-10 lead in the second set, and they eventually expanded it to as many as three with a kill by Hank at 21-18. But back came the Wildcats with four points of their own to retake the lead.
Kills from Alker and Hank gave UD set point at 24-22, but Villanova sent it to extra points with back-to-back points.
Delaware fought out set points at 26-25, before scoring two points of their own and the 27-26 lead. The two teams went back on the seesaw for three points before a 'Nova Service error and a kill by Hank gave UD the second set, 30-28.
The third game was all Villanova, as it led wire-to-wire, gaining as big as an eight-point margin at 22-14. The Hen closed to within five at 24-19, but an attack error by the visitors closed the game in favor of the Wildcats.
Trailing 2-1 and needing the fourth set, the Hens made a pair of important runs to keep their hopes alive.
Trailing 15-12, an Alker kill started a five-point swing, taking the lead with a termination from Stewart to get back into the ball game.
Again finding themselves down, the Hens rallied with three consecutive points to knot it at 23-23. But, Villanova's Petkovich laid down a kill to give the Wildcats match point.
A block by Chelsea Lawrence and Stewart retied the set, and an attack error by 'Nova gave the Blue Hens the 25-24 lead. But UD couldn't get that last point, as the Wildcats fought back and ended the match with back-to-back kills to finish off the Hens 29-27.
Delaware will remain on the road this weekend, as it will take on Sacred Heart, Yale and Maryland in College Park, Md. at the Maryland Tournament. The first match is set for Friday at 4 p.m.
AGATE:
Villanova def. Delaware, 3-1 (27-25, 28-30, 25-20, and 29-27)
Delaware (kills-assists-digs): Hank (15-1-6). Tomko (1-44-20); Stewart (9-1-19); Alker (17-0-19); Lawrence (7-0-1); Evans (8-0-1); Rosehill (0-4-30); Reigel (0-1-5); Oemcke (0-1-1).
Villanova: (Petkovich (17-0-21); Henley (1-1-10); DiBernardo (1-52-15); Williams (6-1-2-); Chatham (1-0-11); Mergen (12-0-4); Andersen (16-0-1); Maroon (1-5-36); Twitty (8-0-3).
Total Team Blocks: Delaware 9, Villanova 4.
