Volleyball Advances To CAA Tournament Championship Game With Victory Over Campbell

Friday, November 17

6:30 PM

University of Delaware

23-4,15-3CAA

No. 3 Campbell

17-13,13-5CAA

Campbell

Delaware

Photo by: Michael Riccio

Volleyball Advances To CAA Tournament Championship Game With Victory Over Campbell

11/17/2023 11:10:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

TOWSON, Md. - No. 2 seed University of Delaware volleyball defeated No. 3 seed Campbell in four sets (25-18, 16-25, 25-22, 25-21) to advance to tomorrow night's Championship Match against No. 1 seed Towson at 7:00 p.m. With the win, Delaware won their 14th consecutive game, tying a program record. Delaware also won their 23rd game of the season.

HIGHLIGHTS

First-Team All-CAA selection Lani Mason had a team-high 17 kills and recorded 10 dkgs.
Madelyn Grunza recorded 13 kills, hit. 400 and had four blocks.
Kirah Johnson recorded 11 kills and five blocks.
Ezgi Basaranlar had 43 assists, four kills, and six digs.
Savannah Seemans recorded 11 kills and nine digs.
Gha'Naye Whitfield-Moss had four kills and five blocks.
Eileen Gex had a game-high 24 digs.
Amelia Painter had 13 digs.
Head coach Kimberly Lambert had four successful challenges.

HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST SET

A 4-0 run by Delaware gave the Blue Hens a 7-4 lead. Grunza highlighted the run with two kills and a block assist, while Seemans added a kill. Campbell scored back-to-back points before Delaware rattled off eight consecutive points and 10 of the next 11. Johnson had three kills in the stretch.
Campbell cut the lead down to 19-15, but two kills by Basaranlar and Mason gave Delaware some breathing room. A kill by Seemans and block assists by Johnson and Grunza and Johnson and Seemans scored the final three points and Delaware took the opening set.
Delaware hit .310 in t he first set and held Campbell to a .149 hitting percentage. Seemans had five kills, while Johnson had four. Basaranlar had 13 assists and Gex had six digs.

SECOND SET

Campbell took control of the second set and led for the entirety, going up 7-1 and 13-3.
Delaware put together a 3-0 spurt after kills by Grunza and Johnson to help cut the lead to 19-13, but Campbell closed out the set to even the match.
Mason had four kills and Basaranlar had eight assists.

THIRD SET

The third set began similarly to the first, with Delaware using a 4-0 run to go up 7-5 before extending the lead to 10-7.
Campbell evened the set up at 15, but kills by Basaranlar, Johnson, and Mason got Delaware back on track. Four straight points by Campbell eventually evened the score at 22, but Whitfield-Moss recorded a kill and a block assist with Seemans and Mason had an ace to finish off the set.
Six different players recorded multiple kills, with Mason leading the way with four. Basaranlar had nine kills and Gex had eight digs.

FOURTH SET

With Campbell leading 6-4 in the fourth, another 8-0 Delaware run catapulted them into a 12-6 lead. Johnson had four kills and two block assists in the run.
Two separate 3-0 runs by Campbell cut Delaware's lead to 16-15, and Delaware remained up 21-20. The Blue Hens scored four of the last five points of the set to take the match.
Mason had six kills in the set, Basaranar had 13 assists, and Gex added six more digs.

GAME NOTES

Mason is now up to 1,502 career kills, the fifth player in program history to reach the 1,500 mark.
Mason also recorded her second straight double-double and her 14th of the season.
Basaranlar had four kills, equaling her second most in a game this season. She had a career-best six on Sept. 22 against Towson.
Grunza had her fourth game this season with double-digit kills and at least a .400 hitting percentage.
Basaranlar upped her career-assist total to 3,883.
Gex had her fourth game this season with at least 20 assists, and her second against Campbell (24, Sept. 17).
Painter's 13 digs were one shy of her season-high.
Delaware improved to 9-5 in the semifinals of the CAA Tournament, and are in the Championship Game for the ninth time in program history.
Delaware has made the CAA Championship game in back-to-back years for the first time since the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
Delaware's 23 wins are their most in a season since winning 26 in 2010.
Delaware tied a program record with their 14th consecutive win, last done from Oct. 3-Nov. 21, 2010.
Delaware improved their record to 13-1 away from home.

Up Next: Delaware will play Towson for the second consecutive season in the CAA Championship game tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. Delaware is seeking their fifth CAA Tournament title.

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