Breanna Crognale
Staff Writer

The Millersville women’s team volleyball competed in the Wilmington Tournament in Delaware on Saturday. The girls entered the second day of competition having lost both matches on Friday. Match one was against Le Moyne College, which saw the girls take the first set 25-16. The girls, who were in complete control, never trailed as the maintained their lead from start to finish. Then in the second, they raced out to an early lead but by the halfway point were down 16-20. Millersville managed to tie the score at 25 but failed to pull away dropping the set 27-25. Le Moyne out played the Marauders in the second set, managing 17 kills and a .174 hitting percentage to Millersville’s 10 kills and .125 percentage. The third set was even worse for the Marauders as they trailed the entire time. A slow start for the girls, in which Le Moyne sprinted to an early 8-2 lead, sealed their fate as they were unable to recover. Millersville responded in the fourth set where they were in front 20-18. Unfortunately the team failed to close it out, dropping the set 25-22 and the match 3-1. Millersville had 43 kills for the match, with Katie Lesinski having 11 and Mary Paul adding nine. Kayla Wallace and Taylor Smith each contributed eight kills and Rebecca Roman had five. Le Moyne had 42 kills, with Andrea Buchanan having 11 and Natalie Casson adding 10. Madison Snow had nine kills for the Dolphins while Rebecca Wolf had seven.
Millersville’s second match was against Holy Family University and the team responded by winning in straight sets. The girls looked like a completely different team against the Tigers than one who took the court in the previous three matches in the tournament. The first set saw the girls fall behind 0-3 early and then respond with four straight points to take the lead. The Marauders seemingly flipped the switch, taking complete control as they never trailed for the remainder of the set. It was a dominating 25-17 win by the Marauders. The girls managed 11 kills and a hitting percentage of .150, compared to the Tigers nine kills and -.022 hitting percentage. In the second set, the girls dominated the court racing out to a commanding 18-9 lead. Holy Family struggled to respond, as Millersville went on to take the set 25-13. Each team registered nine kills but the Marauders hitting percentage was greater at .269 compared to .054 for Holy Family. Then in the third set, it was a completely different story as the girls quickly fell behind 5-1, which led to a Millersville timeout. Upon returning to the court, the girls appeared reenergized, fighting their way back into the match. Facing a 9-4 deficit, a spark seemed to have ignited in the Marauders as they went on to score five straight points. They were able to tie the game at 10 and never looked back. Millersville never trailed in the remainder of the set; as they went on to win 25-22. Millersville managed 15 kills and a hitting percentage of .122; while the Tigers had 12 kills and a .163 percentage. Kayla Wallace led the team with nine of Millersville’s 35 kills, while Lesinski had eight. Paul and Roman contributed seven and six kills respectively. Their defense was solid the entire game with Brooklyn Smith accounting for 26 of the teams 65 digs and Lesinski contributing 16. Holy Family was led by Charlotte Sabatano who had nine of the Tigers 30 kills; while Sarah Ambach and Emma Herring each had six kills. Devyn Ingram led the Tigers with 19 of Holy Family’s 51 digs, while four other players registered eight. Millersville leaves Delaware having won one of their four matches and a 3-4 record for the season. The girl’s next matches are against Seton Hill, and Indiana University PA on September 27 in Greensburg, PA.