Blue Hens Gut Out Five-Set Thriller for First CAA Victory

Saturday, September 28

Newark, Del.

5 p.m.

University of Delaware

9-4, 1-1CAA

University of North Carolina Wilmington

10-5, 0-2CAA

UNCW

DELAWARE

Photo by: Sarah Boekholder

Blue Hens Gut Out Five-Set Thriller for First CAA Victory

9/28/2019 8:03:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

A number of big-time performances propels Delaware to a win

NEWARK, Del. – It took all five sets Saturday night, but the Delaware volleyball team gutted out its first CAA victory of 2019, defeating UNCW by set scores of 25-23, 15-25, 21-25, 25-14 and 15-12 at Bob Carpenter Center.

"I'm really proud of our fight tonight," said head coach Sara Matthews. "We didn't play our best volleyball, but we stuck with it and trusted the process and it paid off."

After falling behind in the first set, 18-11, the Blue Hens rattled off 10-unanswered points with freshman Ezgi Basaranlar at the service line to take a 21-18 lead to grab momentum of the first and take the one-set advantage. Redshirt junior Julia Hayes matched her career high with nine blocks, starting early with four in the opener.

"I'm so proud of Julia," Matthews said. "She hit for a high clip and was so disciplined at the net."

Basaranlar was all over the floor with 50 assists, eight digs, five kills and four aces in the five sets.

"Ezgi did a great job spreading out the offense and getting our middles involved," Matthews said.

The Seahawks settled into the road environment in second and third before Delaware came charging back in the fourth, holding UNCW in the negatives in attack percentage.

Freshman Lani Mason set the tone in the fifth, helping guide Delaware to three-straight points to start the final set before it became a back-and-forth affair with five ties. The Blue Hens got a big block from senior Bailey Pearlman and redshirt freshman Adelina Rivera to switch sides and make it 8-7.

Rivera went 9-3-8 on the night to hit .333 while Pearlman also added nine kills, five digs and three blocks.

UNCW gained a 12-10 advantage to force a Delaware timeout that sparked a 5-0 Blue Hens' run to close out the match that included kills from Rivera and senior Maria Bellinger.

Bellinger led everyone with 16 kills on the night with six digs and three blocks and Mason had her second career double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs.

But the back-bone of the Blue Hens was senior Andie Hanus who recorded 30 digs, just three shy of her career high to solidify the Delaware defense when it needed it most.

"Andie was unreal tonight, anchoring our back row and 30 digs proves that," Matthews added.

It will be a quick day off after playing back-to-back days before the Blue Hens host Charleston for a 6:30 p.m. matchup at the Bob Carpenter Center Monday.

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.