Volleyball Sweeps Weekend Series Against Charleston on Dig Pink Night

Sunday, October 24

Newark, Del.

1 PM

University of Delaware

11-10,6-6CAA

Charleston

13-10,6-6CAA

Col. of Charleston

Delaware

Volleyball Sweeps Weekend Series Against Charleston on Dig Pink Night

10/24/2021 4:48:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

NEWARK, Del. – We love going 2-for-2 in front of the home crowd! The University of Delaware volleyball team completed the CAA weekend series sweep by claiming a necessary 3-1 (26-24, 25-20, 19-25, 25-22) Dig Pink victory over College of Charleston (13-10, 6-6 CAA) Sunday afternoon. This critical sweep helps the Blue Hens move up in the league standings with an 11-10 mark on the season and 6-6 in conference play.

"I am super proud of our group, it was really fun to get a win on Dig Pink night," said head volleyball coach Sara Matthews. "This weekend was really important for us in conference standings and Charleston has been really good all season. Taking two wins from them is no easy feat and our girls continue to stick with it."

It was a Blue & Gold with a splash of pink kind of day for Delaware as the home squad outhit Charleston .240 to .234. The Blue Hens held the edge in points (76-68), kills (61-54), aces (6-4) and assists (58-52) while the Cougars led the way in blocks (10-9). Both teams drew even in digs with 75 apiece.

The opening set was filled with drama as both teams didn't lead more than three points. Trailing by two (23-21), it was all Ezgi Basaranlar as she was part of Delaware scoring three unanswered points. Basaranlar dished out two assists to Kirah Johnson and Lani Mason and then buried Katie Turner's feed to earn set point, 24-23. Charleston tied up the game with block assists by Claire Campbell and Gabi Bailey. The Blue Hens responded in dominate fashion with a Mason kill and then the junior tag-teaming with Grace Underwood to claim the set one victory, 26-24.

Delaware put together their finest set in the second stanza, attacking at a rate of .297 compared to Charleston's .182. With 8-all showing on the scoreboard, the Blue Hens scored four-straight points, headlined with a pair of block assists courtesy of Underwood and Lauryn Richardson, to take the four-point lead, 12-8. The Cougars pulled within three, 13-10, but it was a Savannah Seemans show as she went on a 4-1 scoring spurt with two kills and two aces to extend Delaware's lead to six, 17-11. Charleston got in as close as four after scoring three-straight but Kirah Johnson left no room for a Cougar rally as she put away the set point for the Blue Hens to solidify the win, 25-20.

Down two sets, Charleston opened the third with a much needed 5-0 run capped by a Jasmin Goei ace. Delaware closed the gap to one, 5-4, with 4-0 run ended by a Lily Rogers ace. The Cougars used a 5-1 run to take a six-point lead, 15-9. Mason's kill ignited an 8-3 Blue Hen run to pull within one, 18-17, but Charleston remained in the control by closing out set three with a 7-2 run to capture the win, 25-19.

Although Charleston was swinging at a match-low rate of .143 in the fourth and final set, the team took a 9-5 lead thanks to a 6-1 run. The Blue Hens came back and knotted the game at 10 after an Amelia Painter ace. The seesaw battle began as the set saw five lead changes and three ties. The Cougars held a narrow two-point lead, 17-15, before Delaware went on an 8-3 lead to regain the lead for good, 23-20. Charleston answered by scoring two-straight points, 23-22. Mason provided a feed to Basaranlar to score match-point and then returned the favor to Mason to settle the 25-22 final.

The Blue Hens were led by a trio a double-doubles by Mason, Seemans and Basaranlar. Mason finished with 21 kills and 18 digs to register her sixth double-double on the season to go along with four block assists. Seemans followed with 20 kills and 13 digs to record her sixth double-double on the season to go with a match-high three aces. Basaranlar directed the Blue Hens offense with a match-high 48 assists and 10 digs for her third double-double of the season while adding four kills to her stat line. Anchoring Delaware's defense was Katie Turner with 18 digs. The blocking trinity of Underwood, Richardson (nine kills) and Johnson (seven kills) added six, three and three block assists, respectively.

Lexi Wierzbicki finished with a match-high 23 kills and added five digs and two block assists to pace Charleston. Bailey chipped in 18 kills, 16 digs and seven block assists. Goei (14 digs) and Emma Appleman had 22 and 18 assists, respectively, while Tynley Smeltzer scooped up a match-best 23 digs.

Matthews added, "We are looking forward to this momentum to carrying us into Towson next weekend."

WHAT'S NEXT
The Blue Hens hit the road next Friday, Oct. 29, for their final CAA road weekend series showdown against the defending conference champions, Towson University (19-3, 7-3 CAA), inside Secu Arena in Towson, Md. Opening serve is set for 7 p.m.

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