Blue Hens Sweep Their Way out of San Antonio

Saturday, September 14

San Antonio, Texas

12 p.m.

University of Delaware

8-1

Northern Illinois University

3-7

Northern Ill.

DELAWARE

Photo by: Mark Campbell

9/14/2019 3:02:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Delaware’s win streak reaches eight matches heading into final non-conference tournament

SAN ANTONIO – The Delaware volleyball team has won its last eight contests with a sweep of Northern Illinois Saturday afternoon at the UIW Cardinal Classic by set scores of 25-11, 25-13, and 25-19.

The Blue Hens are off to their best start since the 2007 season when that edition opened the year 10-0.

"This was a great weekend for us," said head coach Sara Matthews. "We were put in some tough situations and prevailed. It gave us a look into some things that we need to get better at and I'm really looking forward to getting back into the gym this week."

Senior Maria Bellinger led the attack, going 12-2-22 to hit .455 with a pair of blocks while classmate Bailey Pearlman added six kills and matched a career high with five aces.

The Delaware freshmen were impressive again as Lani Mason went 7-0-15 to hit .467, Ayala Plummer had four kills with six denials and Ezgi Basaranlar was her usual self with 17 assists.

Mason was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and Bellinger was tabbed to the all-tournament team.

Senior Andie Hanus has yet to have single-digit digs in a match this season with 10 on the afternoon.

One more non-conference tournament is in front of the Blue Hens next weekend, traveling to Villanova to take on the Wildcats and La Salle.

For the latest on the Delaware volleyball program, follow the Blue Hens on Twitter @DelawareVB and Instagram @delawarevolleyball, and like on Facebook at Delaware Volleyball.