Delaware Wins Five-Set Thriller Over Northeastern as Bellinger Hits 1,000 Kill Milestone

Friday, October 12

Carpenter Sports Building

6:30 PM

University of Delaware

8-11, 2-5CAA

Northeastern University

11-9, 4-3CAA

Delaware

Delaware Wins Five-Set Thriller Over Northeastern as Bellinger Hits 1,000 Kill Milestone

10/12/2018 10:49:00 PM | Volleyball

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Bellinger had 33 kills in the win

By: Mike Scholze

NEWARK, Del. – Junior Maria Bellinger was 31 kills from 1,000 heading into tonight, and would need to almost match her performance from last Sunday, where she posted 34 terminations in the win over Elon. Bellinger had 33 – one short of the program record that she holds – to help Delaware volleyball earn a five-set win over Northeastern inside the Carpenter Sports Building on Friday evening. With the win, UD improves to 8-11 and 2-5 in the Colonial Athletic Association while NU falls to 11-9 and 4-3 in the league.

"I thought the crowd provided some great energy for our team tonight," head coach Sara Matthews said. "We've been playing with a lot of energy and emotion the last two matches. I'm really proud of how they fought in the end. Being up 2-0 can be really deflating when you lose the next two. I thought we came out in the fifth set really strong. Even though we gave some points up they just did a great job of fighting it out."

Bellinger is the 19^th player to hit the 1,000 kill milestone in program history and currently leads the CAA in kills per set.

"This milestone means a lot because it's a testament to all my teammates that helped me get there," Bellinger said. "It's really nice to be able to thank all the people that helped me get there."

Bellinger had the match-high with 33 kills on 89 swings and hit a solid .281 attacking clip. Junior Bailey Pearlman had 18 kills on 39 swings for a .308 hitting percentage. Senior Brooke Robertson posted nine kills and junior Cailey Bracken had seven. UD had 68 hammers a team and held NU to 66.

Sophomore Courtnie Roberts directed the offense with an impressive 57 assists – one off her career best of 58. She helped the offense hit .200 as a team. Andie Hanus had eight helpers and UD had 67 as a team.

Defensively, the Blue Hens were led by Bracken, who posted a career-best 28 digs. Roberts posted a season-best 21 scoops and her 10^th double-double of the year, while the libero Hanus had 15 digs. Sophomore Maddie Judge came up one short of her season-best with 13 digs of her own. Pearlman, Bellinger and Robertson all recorded seven while UD had 103 as a team.

Delaware posted 12 team blocks, led by sophomore Julia Hayes with seven. Roberstson and Bellinger had four stuffs each while Pearlman and Bracken had three apiece.

The Blue Hens took the first two sets, 25-22 and 25-22. After dropping the third set 25-21, Delaware came up just short in the fourth set. The firth set was a back-and-forth thriller. NU grabbed the first point but UD responded with two Bellinger hammers and a block from Roberts and Hayes to go up 3-1. UD saw a 7-4 lead and a 9-5 lead – thanks to a Bracken termination – but the Huskies were able to tie the set at 11-11. Delaware swung the momentum back and won the set 15-11 after Bellinger recorded three kills in the final four point run.

UP NEXT
Delaware will return home to face Northeastern on Sunday, Oct. 14 at 1:00 p.m.