University of Delaware Athletics
Saturday, November 5
Williamsburg, Va.
2:00 PM
University of Delaware
3
at
2
William & Mary
Photo by: Mark Campbell
Volleyball Prevails Over William & Mary In Five-Set Thriller
11/5/2022 5:40:00 PM | Volleyball
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. –The University of Delaware volleyball team played in their seventh five-set thriller this season and this time was on the winning end by capturing the CAA road victory (35-33, 24-26, 25-23, 23-25, 15-13) against William & Mary (11-10, 6-7 CAA) Saturday afternoon inside Kaplan Arena. Delaware (13-10, 9-6 CAA) put a halt on the Tribe's "clinching the CAA tournament" dreams in dominate fashion behind Lani Mason's 30 kill performance and Ezgi Basaranlar's career-best 65 assists. The win has moved the Blue Hens to fourth place in league standings.
"I am extremely proud of our resiliency today," said head coach Kimberly Lambert. "William & Mary is a well coached program with some physical pieces. Despite being plagued with unforced errors, we never gave up and managed to push ahead at the right times. We have to regroup, maintain our focus and keep the momentum on our side tomorrow."
Delaware outhit William & Mary .213 to .192 while leading the way in points (96.5-82), kills (80-64), aces (5-1), assists (74-59) and digs (87-83). The Tribe held the advantage in blocks (17-11).
The 45-minute opening set proved to be a battle of wills between the two squads. With the scoreboard reading 23-21 in favor of the Tribe, Mason's kill followed by Savannah Seemans' solo block made it a 23-all match. William & Mary claimed set point after Kaitlyn Ferguson's kill but the the Blue Hens had other plans. Things swayed to Delaware's side after Kirah Johnson and Seemans teamed up to send away Taylor Burell's attempt and then capitalize on Burell's attacking error, 33-32. The Tribe knotted the set up at 33 before Basaranlar set up Johnson first and then Mason for the Blue Hens to claim the 35-33 set one victory.
The Tribe responded in set two and captured the 26-24 win. The back and forth affair continued through the third set where William & Mary held the 13-12 lead. A Pearce Augier kill ignited a 7-2 Blue Hen run to build the four-point cushion, 19-15. The Tribe clawed back with an 8-4 run to tie the set at 23. Delaware was determined to take the 2-1 set lead advantage, thanks to Lauryn Richardson and Seemans both burying Basaranlar's feed, 25-23.
The Blue Hens put together its finest hitting performance of .333 in the fourth set. Trailing 20-16 and forced to call time, Delaware showed their first set perseverance again by using a 7-2 run, highlighted by Mason scoring five-straight, for the 23-22 lead. William & Mary answered back with three-unanswered points to force the match to go into the fifth and deciding set, 25-23.
Delaware has been here before and remained in the driver's seat the entire fifth set. The Tribe tied the match for the final time (10-10) and then everything was all Blue & Gold. Mason nailed down her 30th kill of the afternoon for the Blue Hens to close out the match scoring five of the last eight points. The Blue Hen secured the win after Seemans put away Eileen Gex's feed beautifully, 15-13.
Mason finished the afternoon with 30 kills, her fourth 30+ kill performance of the season, and 17 digs to post her 13th double-double of the season. Seemans followed with 14 kills, 20 digs and three blocks to register her fifth double-double of the season. Johnson (six blocks) and Richardson (five blocks) chipped in 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Basaranlar's 65 assists, which now sits tied for eighth in the record books, led the offensive charge for the Blue Hens while adding 13 digs to her stat line to record her third double-double of the season. Gex anchored the Blue Hen defense by scooping up 22 digs.
Eleanor Stothoff paced William & Mary with 15 kills and 10 blocks. Sydney Taylor finished with 14 kills and 12 digs while Burrell and Ferguson added 12 kills each. Emma Minnick and Amy Schwem dished out 25 and 24 assists, respectively as Anna Porter had 27 digs.
WHAT'S NEXT
Delaware will face William & Mary again tomorrow (Nov. 6) to close out CAA play at 2 p.m. inside Kaplan Arena.
BLUE HENS on SOCIAL MEDIA
For the latest on the University of Delaware Volleyball, follow the Blue Hens via social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
"I am extremely proud of our resiliency today," said head coach Kimberly Lambert. "William & Mary is a well coached program with some physical pieces. Despite being plagued with unforced errors, we never gave up and managed to push ahead at the right times. We have to regroup, maintain our focus and keep the momentum on our side tomorrow."
Delaware outhit William & Mary .213 to .192 while leading the way in points (96.5-82), kills (80-64), aces (5-1), assists (74-59) and digs (87-83). The Tribe held the advantage in blocks (17-11).
The 45-minute opening set proved to be a battle of wills between the two squads. With the scoreboard reading 23-21 in favor of the Tribe, Mason's kill followed by Savannah Seemans' solo block made it a 23-all match. William & Mary claimed set point after Kaitlyn Ferguson's kill but the the Blue Hens had other plans. Things swayed to Delaware's side after Kirah Johnson and Seemans teamed up to send away Taylor Burell's attempt and then capitalize on Burell's attacking error, 33-32. The Tribe knotted the set up at 33 before Basaranlar set up Johnson first and then Mason for the Blue Hens to claim the 35-33 set one victory.
The Tribe responded in set two and captured the 26-24 win. The back and forth affair continued through the third set where William & Mary held the 13-12 lead. A Pearce Augier kill ignited a 7-2 Blue Hen run to build the four-point cushion, 19-15. The Tribe clawed back with an 8-4 run to tie the set at 23. Delaware was determined to take the 2-1 set lead advantage, thanks to Lauryn Richardson and Seemans both burying Basaranlar's feed, 25-23.
The Blue Hens put together its finest hitting performance of .333 in the fourth set. Trailing 20-16 and forced to call time, Delaware showed their first set perseverance again by using a 7-2 run, highlighted by Mason scoring five-straight, for the 23-22 lead. William & Mary answered back with three-unanswered points to force the match to go into the fifth and deciding set, 25-23.
Delaware has been here before and remained in the driver's seat the entire fifth set. The Tribe tied the match for the final time (10-10) and then everything was all Blue & Gold. Mason nailed down her 30th kill of the afternoon for the Blue Hens to close out the match scoring five of the last eight points. The Blue Hen secured the win after Seemans put away Eileen Gex's feed beautifully, 15-13.
Mason finished the afternoon with 30 kills, her fourth 30+ kill performance of the season, and 17 digs to post her 13th double-double of the season. Seemans followed with 14 kills, 20 digs and three blocks to register her fifth double-double of the season. Johnson (six blocks) and Richardson (five blocks) chipped in 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Basaranlar's 65 assists, which now sits tied for eighth in the record books, led the offensive charge for the Blue Hens while adding 13 digs to her stat line to record her third double-double of the season. Gex anchored the Blue Hen defense by scooping up 22 digs.
Eleanor Stothoff paced William & Mary with 15 kills and 10 blocks. Sydney Taylor finished with 14 kills and 12 digs while Burrell and Ferguson added 12 kills each. Emma Minnick and Amy Schwem dished out 25 and 24 assists, respectively as Anna Porter had 27 digs.
WHAT'S NEXT
Delaware will face William & Mary again tomorrow (Nov. 6) to close out CAA play at 2 p.m. inside Kaplan Arena.
BLUE HENS on SOCIAL MEDIA
For the latest on the University of Delaware Volleyball, follow the Blue Hens via social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Highlight: VB CAA Champions - 11/18/23
Sunday, November 19
Highlight: VB vs. Hofstra - 10/22/23
Sunday, October 22
Highlight: VB vs. Hofstra - 10-21-23
Saturday, October 21
Highlight: VB vs. Charleston - 10/1/23
Monday, October 16
