MADISON, N.J. – The Delaware Valley women's volleyball team secured the first two sets of the match before giving up the next two consecutive sets to FDU-Florham forcing a fifth set thriller with the Aggies coming out on top to record their first conference win of the season.
DelVal improves to 8-6 on the season and 1-2 in MAC Freedom play. FDU-Florham falls to 9-8 overall and 0-3 in conference play.
A 4-0 run to start the set gave the Devils an early lead over the Aggies. DelVal was quick to respond with seven-straight to take a 7-4 lead over FDU-Florham. An attack error cut the Devils' deficit to two, 7-5, until the Aggies mounted a 3-0 attack to bring the lead to five, 10-5. The Aggies continued to hold a 5-3 advantage to bring the score to 15-8 and force an FDU-Florham timeout. DelVal's offense continued to surge forward with an
Olivia Deffendall kill and
Emma Helverson service ace putting the team ahead 21-12 and forcing another Devils' timeout.
Grace Kane,
Gretta Schneider and
Victoria Tucker kills helped put the finishing touches on the set for the Aggies, 25-16.
The Devils started the set strong with a service ace answered quickly by a Schneider kill to set the Aggies off on a 5-0 run ended by an attack error to give DelVal a 5-2 lead. Another short 3-0 run for DelVal extended the lead by six, 8-2, with a quick two points from the Devils cutting the deficit back down to half, 8-4. The Devils mounted a 6-0 comeback to tie the set, 10-10. Back-to-back errors put the Aggies back in the lead, 12-10, but the Devils still remained in close chase. A 5-1 attack from DelVal quickly built up a five-point advantage, 18-13, forcing a Devils' timeout. Schneider opened back up play with an immediate kill to put the Aggies ahead 19-13. FDU-Florham managed to get back within two points of the lead, 23-22, but two-straight from DelVal ended the set, 25-22.
The third set saw a strong comeback from the Devils pulling ahead of the Aggies by as many as five, 15-10. DelVal offense worked to close the gap bringing it to a one-point game four times before a 3-0 run put the team in the lead 22-21. A small 2-0 spurt from the Devils put them back with a one-point lead, 23-22 with Deffendall answering for DelVal with the kill to tie it again, 23-23. FDU-Florham put together the final two points of the set to win it 25-23.
The Devils offensive efforts continued into the fourth set building up an early 13-5 lead over the Aggies to start. Deffendall tried to stop the bleeding and close the deficit with a kill, but the Devils were quick to build up an 18-6 lead and force an Aggies timeout. DelVal put together a 6-1 run to bring the deficit down to eight, 20-12. The Devils maintained their advantage with a 4-0 run from the Aggies holding them at the 24-point mark closing the deficit to six, with an attack error ending the set in favor of the Devils, 25-18.
The momentum swung in DelVal's favor with a 5-0 run to start the final set. A 5-1 response from the Devils closed in on the Aggies' lead, 6-5. Kills from Deffendall and Schneider paired with a
Hannah Brennan service aces gave the Aggies an 11-6 advantage over FDU-Florham forcing a timeout. The teams went 4-4 coming out of the break with the Aggies coming out on top, 15-10.
Deffendall led the offensive efforts for the Aggies with a team-high 15 kills. Schneider and Kane both contributed double-digit kills recording 11 and 10, respectively. Deffendall totaled 48 attacked and recorded a .208 hitting percentage in the match. Schneider put up three of the Aggies eight services ages holding a slight edge over the Devils in the stat category, 8-7. Kane led the defensive efforts with 34 digs.
Grace Wilson also recorded double-digit digs with 25.
The Aggies have a quick turnaround returning to action tomorrow night at Clarks Summit for a 7p.m. start.
