Jenkins Leads Blue Hens To Impressive Four-Set Win at UNCW

Sunday, October 23

Wilmington, N.C.

1:00 PM

University of Delaware

9-14 (3-7CAA)

UNCW

14-8 (4-6CAA)

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
DELAWARE	25	22	25	25	3
UNCW	21	25	21	21	1

Jenkins Leads Blue Hens To Impressive Four-Set Win at UNCW

10/23/2016 5:27:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Delaware Athletics

• Boxscore
• Boxscore (pdf)

WILMINGTON, N.C. -- Blue Hen senior outside hitter Autumn Jenkins blasted a season-high 20 kills while freshman Maria Bellinger added 15 of her own to lead the University of Delaware volleyball team to an impressive four-set victory over UNCW Sunday afternoon at Trask Coliseum.

Delaware, which has now won three of its last four matches, took the contest by set scores of 25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 25-21 to improve to 9-14 overall and 3-7 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Seahawks dropped their second straight while falling to 14-8 overall and 4-6 in league action.

Jenkins slammed 20 kills against just three attack errors to hit .340 for the match, while Bellinger posted a team-leading .353 percentage by belting 15 kills with just three errors. Alexa Swann added nine kills and Lauren Talley contributed eight for the Blue Hens, whose .272 hitting percentage was their highest since the second match of the season.

Erin Layne handed out 49 assists during the victory, while Taylor Hollingsworth led the way defensively with 28 digs. Jenkins added 13 digs to post her team-leading 12th double-double of the year, while Layne and Rasmussen added 11 digs apiece.

Nicole Lott recorded a double-double with 18 kills and 13 digs for UNCW, while Maddy Kline notched a double-double of her own with 12 kills and 14 digs.

Delaware jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the opening set and led the rest of the way, eventually putting the game away following a Seahawks attack error. The Blue Hens then took a 20-16 advantage in the second frame following kills by Jenkins and Swann, but UNCW answered with a 9-2 run to close the set and even the match at a game apiece.

The third stanza was close throughout, featuring nine ties and seven lead changes, before Delaware used a four-point run to go in front for good at 17-15. The Seahawks took a pair of points to climb within 23-21, but Jenkins and Swann countered with kills to give the Blue Hens the set.

UD then raced out to a 10-5 cushion in the fourth game, and after UNCW rallied to take a 17-16 lead, the Blue Hens responded with four straight points to go up 20-17. It was still a three-point margin moments later at 24-21, before Talley blasted a kill to seal the Blue Hen victory.

“I couldn't be happier with how everyone played,” Jenkins said. “We had a great team effort, especially on defense. Taylor (Hollingsworth) did a great job leading the team defensively. It was a good way to bounce back from Friday's loss.”

Delaware remains on the road on Wednesday when the Blue Hens make the short trip south to battle Towson at SECU Arena at 7 p.m.

Match Notes:
• Delaware snapped a five-match losing skid to UNCW
• The Blue Hens won their first road match since a 3-0 victory at Navy on Aug. 27
• Jenkins' 20 kills were her second highest career total (24 vs. Southern Illinois on Aug. 28, 2015)
• Hollingsworth moved into eighth place at UD with 1,445 career digs
• Swann posted four blocks and now has 348 for her career, 10th all-time at Delaware
• Layne recorded her second straight double-double
• Rasmussen reached double figure digs for the sixth time this season

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Kevin Tritt at: ktritt@udel.edu (email) / 302-831-8715 (office) / 302-383-5005 (cell)