Erickson and Alker Lead Delaware Past UNCW, 3-1, Win 11th Straight
November 12, 2010
Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell_lg.jpg)
• Boxscore
NEWARK, Del. - - Senior Paige Erickson tallied 17 kills and Alissa Alker (at right) posted a double-double to lead the University of Delaware volleyball team to its 11th straight victory, as they defeated UNC Wilmington, 3-1, on Viera Court on Friday night. Set scores for the match were 25-18, 25-14, 24-26, and 25-18.
Erickson paced Delaware (22-5, 12-1 CAA) with 17 kills on 27 swings, hitting at a .519 clip. Erickson also led the team with five block assists. Alker finished with 13 kills and 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the season. She also had four total blocks with one solo and three block assists. Jess Chason dished out a match high 32 helpers while Greta Gibboney finished with a match high 21 digs.
UNCW (7-22, 1-12 CAA) was led by Sam Seifert who tallied 12 kills and 10 digs for the Seahawks. She was the UNCW player with double-digit kills, but Kelli Clear finished with 17 digs and Haley Collins collected 13 digs. Kelsey Bendig had a team high 19 assists while Natalie Lahaie ended with 15 assists.
The first two sets belongs to the Blue Hens as they grabbed control of each set early, and cruised to a 2-0 lead.
Tied at 3-3 in the first, Delaware used a four-point run to take the lead for good in the set. The Hens went on to take another six-point streak with kills by Kim Stewart and Erickson to go up 13-4. Erickson gave the Blue Hens their biggest lead of the match again, 23-14, with a kill before settling for a 25-18 set score.
The second set was more of the same the Blue and Gold jumped out to a 5-0 lead before the Seahawks were able to get on the board. A 7-2 run by the home team gave the Blue Hens a comfortable 10-2 lead following another kill by Erickson. An ace by Stewart and an attack error by UNCW gave Delaware a ten-point lead at 14-4. The Hens would take their biggest lead of the set following a block by Stewart and Karina Evans, giving Delaware a 21-8 advantage.
Delaware’s retentively smooth night came to a screeching halt in the third set. The Seahawks hung neck and neck with the Blue Hens, coming out of the break looking like a new team. Down 16-13, the Blue Hens went on a six point run to retake the lead at 18-17. Tied again at 23-23, the Seahawks scored three of the next four points to take the set 26-24.
The Blue Hens regrouped in the fourth set however, as they used back-to-back-to-back service aces by Alker en route to seven straight points early in the set to take an 11-5 lead and never look back. Back-to-back kills by Alker gave Delaware the 16-12 lead before Kate Dennehy ended the set with an emphatic kill, closing the match 25-18.
The win gave the Blue Hens 14 straight victories on their home court, moving them into a tie with Maryland Eastern Shore for the 11th longest home winning streak in the country.
Delaware returns to action on Saturday, as the team tries to avenge its only CAA loss of the season, when they welcome in Georgia State. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.
AGATE:
Delaware def. UNC Wilmington 3-1 (25-18, 25-14, 24-26, 25-18)
Delaware (kills-assists-digs): Erickson (17-1-1), Stewart (7-0-10), Dennehy (9-0-10), Chason (1-31-4), Alker (12-0-11), Evans (1-0-0), Rosehill (0-0-0), Hank (2-0-0), Tomko (0-10-5), Gibboney (0-3-21), Lawrence (0-1-0), Sebastian (1-0-0).
UNC Wilmington: Mohrman (7-0-0), Bendig (0-19-3), Seifert (12-0-10), Porter (4-0-0), Clear (8-1-17), Laite (7-1-2), Dolan (0-0-0), Lahaie (0-14-3), Young (0-0-0), Collins (0-1-13), Mallard (3-0-1).
Total Team Blocks: Delaware - 11, UNCW - 9
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