READING (Pa.)--- The Delaware Valley women's volleyball team traveled to Alvernia University for a tri-match with the host Golden Wolves and New Jersey City and came away with a split. The Aggies defeated Alvernia 3-1 in their first match before falling 3-1 to New Jersey City in their second match.
The 1-1 day moved the Aggies to 6-5 on the season, keeping them above the .500 mark and doubling their win total from last season.
MATCH ONE VS ALVERNIA (3-1 WIN)
The Aggies came out hot in the first set, jumping out to a 7-2 lead. Emma Helverson had back-to-back service aces during the run. DelVal continued to hold as steady lead before a 4-0 burst put them ahead 20-12. After a 6-1 run from Alvernia closed the gap to 21-18, the Aggies were able to hang on for the 25-21 win in set one.
Set two belonged to Alvernia, as the hosts led 10-3 and never looked back to take the second set 25-16.
The Aggies took a 12-7 lead in the third set, when Alvernia rallied from behind to lead 16-15. It was all DelVal after that, as the Aggies finished on a 10-2 run to go ahead in the match 2-1, with a 25-18 win. Helverson finished off the set with back-to-back kills.
DelVal again started the fourth set strong, lead 7-3. With the score at 10-7, the Aggies scored five straight to extend their lead to 15-7. Victoria Tucker had two service aces during the run. The lead grew to 19-10 before Alvernia scored five straight to close the lead to four. Three straight from the Aggies put them ahead 22-15, but a Golden Wolves 9-1 run put them ahead 24-23. After the score was tied at 25-25 and 26-26, the Aggies picked up a point on an Alvernia service error and a kill by Gretta Schneider to secure the 28-26 win and seal the match, 3-1.
Olivia Deffendall's ten kills led Delaware Valley, while Gretta Schneider had nine and Grace Kane and Emma Helverson had seven apiece. Helverson led the Aggies with three service aces.
MATCH TWO VS NEW JERSEY CITY (3-1 LOSS)
After a back and forth start to set one saw the score tied at 9-9, New Jersey City went on an 8-1 run to lead 17-10. The Aggies then stormed back with a 10-2 run of their own to lead 20-19. With the score tied at 21-21, the Gothic Knights scored the final four points of the set to win 25-21.
The Aggies responded nicely in set two by getting out to a 10-4 advantage. After the lead shrunk to 10-9, DelVal was able to steadily pull away and would win the second set 25-16 to even the match at 1-1.
The Gothic Knights opened up the third set with an 11-5 lead before DelVal trimmed it to 13-12. The Aggies kept the pressure on and tied it up at 17-17 before New Jersey City went on a 6-1 run to lead 23-18. A late DelVal run made it 24-22, but the Gothic Knights closed out the set to win 25-22 and lead 2-1.
The Aggies once again fell behind early in the fourth set before closing the Gothic Knight six point lead to 11-10. DelVal couldn't take the lead for the remainder of the set however, as the Gothic Knights stayed in front and won 25-21 to complete the 3-1 victory.
Olivia Deffendall again led DelVal in kills with 13 and also added three service aces. Gretta Schneider added four service aces of her own while Emma Helverson also had three.
DelVal will return to action for MAC Freedom play on Tuesday, September 27th at DeSales at 7 p.m.
