WILMINGTON, Ohio – Twice is nice. The Earlham College volleyball team defeated Wilmington for the second time this season as the Quakers defeated the Quakers 3-1 on Wednesday.
Earlham won the first two sets 25-18, 25-15. Wilmington fought back to take set three 25-21. In set four, Earlham trailed 12-4 which forced head coach Lauren Crump to call timeout. After the timeout freshman Denisa Mataia rattled off four straight serves to get the Quakers within five points at 17-11. Earlham then used a service run from freshman Megan Hedinger and three straight kills from sophomore Kayla Morris to cut Wilmington’s lead to just one point. Wilmington (0-12) took a 23-21 lead and looked to force a decisive fifth set until two attack errors and kills from freshman Ashleigh Burton and Morris gave Earlham the victory.
Morris finished with 20 kills while hitting a .250 clip to lead Earlham offensively. Burton and Mataia both chipped in 12 kills apiece. Freshman setter Abigail Sheehan dished out 42 assists in the four-set match.
Defensively, four Earlham players finished with double digits in digs. Hedinger, Mataia, and Morris finished with 17, 14, and 13 digs respectively while freshman Jessica Dammeyer added 14 digs herself. Freshman middle blocker Meredith Beed tallied two crucial solo blocks.
“These ladies continue to work hard and put in quality time during practice,” head coach Lauren Crump said. “It’s nice to see that hard work starting to pay off:”
Kennedy Harshaw and Catlin Paulley led Wilmington with 15 kills each.
Earlham is now 4-11 on the season and has equaled its win total from the entire 2014 season. The Quakers take a two-match winning streak into a weekend tri-match with Oberlin and Wooster.
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