WOOSTER, Ohio (September 14) – The Waynesburg University volleyball team notched its second win of the season as the Jackets downed Pitt-Greensburg in four sets and went the distance with Wooster at the Ginny Hunt Kilt Classic in Ohio on Saturday.
The Jackets move to 2-6 on the season after going 2-1 this week with eight set victories against Bethany, UPG and Wooster.
Game 1 – Waynesburg 3, Pitt-Greensburg 1 (27-29, 25-20, 25-19, 25-18)
In a topsy-turvy first set of the day, Waynesburg used an 11-2 run to go ahead 17-9. UPG used a 7-0 run to re-take a 23-22 lead before the Jackets tied the set at 23. Waynesburg survived a pair of set points before leading 26-25 and 27-26 with the Bobcats ultimately scoring the final three points to secure a 29-27 set win.
The Jackets never trailed in the second set as they established an early 12-5 lead. The Bobcats rallied back to tie the frame at 15, 16 and 17. With
Jordan Stein (Manor, Pa. / Norwin) at the service line, Waynesburg went on a 5-0 run with kills by
Madi Dayton (Ridgeley, W. Va. / Calvary Christian),
Krista Wilson (Greensboro, Pa. / Mapletown) and
Kristina Zadrozny (McDonald, Pa. / West Allegheny) in the run. After three-straight UPG points, the Jackets put the set away with three of their own as Wilson notched the final two points.
Waynesburg used 7-1 run to turn a two-point deficit into an 11-7 advantage in the third set and did not trail the rest of the way. UPG worked within two points three times, including at 21-19. But the Jackets scored the final four points of the set to win 25-19.
The fourth set also featured the Jackets pulling away late as a 19-17 game was decided with a final tally of 25-18 with Wilson notching two more kills in the final stretch.
Waynesburg totaled 49 kills with a .156 hitting percentage. The Jackets set season-highs in hitting percentage, service aces (17) and total blocks (seven).
Wilson set a career high with 18 kills at a .233 clip with four aces. Dayton added 13 kills, four total blocks, two aces and eight digs.
Paige Mortimore (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Brentwood) and Zadrozny added eight kills apiece.
Riley Ruffley (Bedford, Pa. / Bedford) had 23 assists and nine digs. Paige Coulsey (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Chartiers Valley) posted 16 assists and 23 digs. Stein finished with 29 digs. Eight different players recorded an ace in the win.
Game 2 – Wooster 3, Waynesburg 2 (25-22, 22-25, 16-25, 25-20, 15-8)
Waynesburg stayed with Wooster for the entirety of the first set as the Jackets and Fighting Scotts were tied 14 times throughout the fame. The final tie came at 21-all until a late 4-1 push from Wooster took the set.
The Jackets then exploded onto the court for the second set capturing a 16-11 lead. Wooster responded with four straight points to bring the game within one. After a back and forth run left Waynesburg down by one (22-21), the Jackets captured the with a four-point run led by Wilson, who accounted for two of the four points with a kill and service ace.
Following the second set, Waynesburg got ahead early in the third and never looked back. After grabbing a 9-3 lead the Jackets kept the pressure for the third set, never giving back the lead and taking the set with a score of 25-16. Waynesburg was fueled by stellar offensive performances from Mortimore and Zadrozny as the duo had six and five kills respectively.
Waynesburg opened the third set taking a 9-6 lead, then the Fighting Scotts surged back onto the scene with a 16-6 run to take the lead 22-15. A late four-point push was not enough for the Jackets as Wooster took the set 25-20.
Wooster opened a 4-1 lead in fifth set. Waynesburg fought for the set, but was not able to stall the Fighting Scotts as they kept control of the set and took the frame with a score of 15-8 in the second five-set match for Waynesburg this fall.
Four players notched at least 10 kills in the match for the Jackets. Leading the way for Waynesburg was
Paige Mortimore who had 15 kills, a season best. Zadrozny had 11 kills while Dayton and Wilson both had 10 kills on the day. Dayton also had 13 digs, a season best, and her second double-double performance on the year.
Ruffley led the team with a season high 27 assists and tagged on 12 digs for her first assist-digs double-double of the year. Cousley added 10 assists as well.
Speaking of digs, Stein had 26 on the day for Waynesburg, her game high performance also increased her digs per set to 5.0 on the year. Stein ranks fourth overall in the President's Athletic Conference. (PAC) in digs per set.
Dayton was named as Waynesburg's representative on the Ginny Hunt Kilt Classic all-tournament team.
Waynesburg opens Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play next Saturday at Allegheny.
