Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

• Boxscore

NEWARK, Del. – Four players had a .300 hitting percentage or better as the University of Delaware volleyball team took care of business in its home opener against Villanova University, 3-0. The team hit for a .320 average, beating the Wildcats in three sets. Set scores for the match were 25-14, 25-18, 25-21. Junior Kim Stewart had a match high 17 kills.

Sophomore middle hitter Chelsea Lawrence led the way with a .600 hitting percentage on 10 swings. She finished with seven kills and added two block assists. So far this season, she is hitting .414 with 31 kills. She is averaging 2.38 kills per set. And for a player that did not see much time on the court last season, it has come to now surprise from her coach.

“Chelsea is going to keep getting better and better,” head coach Bonnie Kenny said after the game. “She may be surprising her teammates right now, but I always knew she was a good player. We just need her to realize how good she can be. She just has to keep playing and get that experience to become better.”

Joining Lawrence in the “300 Club” was fellow sophomore Alissa Alker. She finished with 11 kills on 24 swings. She also added 11 digs and ended with a .375 hitting percentage. Stewart had the match high in kills, and finished with a .350 percentage. Senior Katie Dennehy also hit that mark, ending with nine terminations and a .300 average.

In addition to the high percentages, the Blue Hens had five players reach double figures in digs. Senior libero Greta Gibboney led the defense with 18 digs, followed by setter Jess Chason who recorded 13. Dennehy chipped in with 12 while Alker and Stewart added 10 each.

“Our hitting tonight was spectacular,” continued Kenny. “We had good distribution from Jess, and that made the blocking have to chase us all night. Their libero is real good and we attacked the floor really, really well tonight.”

The Blue Hens started the match out on the right foot, taking care of business in the first game, setting the tone for the rest of the match. Notched at 10 each, a kill by Lawrence followed by four straight Dennehy service points, Delaware was well on their way to victory in the first set.

Stewart and Alker had back-to-back put downs to extend the lead to 17-11 before Alker served five points, putting the game out of reach. Lawrence finished off the set with her second kill of the game.

The second set was more of the same for Delaware (3-1), as it made its run midway through the frame. Knotted at 9-9, the Blue Hens scored five of the next six points to take the lead at 14-10. But Villanova would try to make a comeback, after Kara Chatham’s putdown tied the score again at 15 all. Then Stewart, Alker, Lawrence and Dennehy, all traded attacks to outscore Villanova 10-3 down the stretch.

Villanova (1-3) tried to make things interesting in the third set, holding the lead as late as 18-17. But two kills by Dennehy and one more from Stewart prompted a Wildcat timeout as the Blue Hens went up by two.

After the time out, an attack error by Villanova and a kill by Alker helped seize the set for Delaware. Kills by Stewart and Alker put the Blue Hens up 24-19 before a block assist by Paige Erickson and Stewart, ended the set and the match.

“It’s real nice to be playing at home (before the team plays on the road for the most of September),” Kenny concluded. “This weekend will be good for us. We had a real good hitting percentage and side out percentage (67 percent for the match), and now we just have to be consistent with those stats.”

The Blue Hens will remain at home this weekend as they host their 34th Annual Delaware Invitational on Friday and Saturday. Delaware will play at 7 p.m. on Friday and then again at 12 noon and 7 p.m. on Saturday.

AGATE:

Delaware def. Villanova, 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-21)

Delaware (Kills-Digs-Assists): Erickson, 4-1-0; Stewart, 17-11-0; Dennehy, 9-12-2; Chason, 1-13-37; Alker, 11-11-2; Lawrence, 7-0-0; Gibboney, 0-18-1

Villanova (Kills-Digs-Assists): Oertli, 1-3-25; Anderson, 3-3-0; Petkovich, 12-6-0; Williams, 6-0-0; Chatham, 1-16-0; Mergen, 10-0-1; Maroon, 0-27-3; Henley, 1-3-1; Edwards, 1-1-0