NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (Nov. 6) -- The Thiel College Women's Volleyball team fell in four sets at Westminster College Thursday evening in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) North Division action on Ron Galbreath Court inside Buzz Ridl Gymnasium.
The Tomcats, who have secured the No. 2 seed and a home match next Tuesday in the conference tournament, dip to 16-7 (11-4) while the Titans rise to 18-10 (9-6) with set score wins of 25-23, 25-20, 16-25 and 25-23.
Trailing 12-10 in set four, Thiel went on a 9-1 run to pull ahead 19-13 as they looked to force a fifth set. Westminster answered with 7-of-8 to tie things at 20 before a
Daisy Jenness (Pendleton, Ore./Pendleton) kill made it 21-20 Tomcats. The Titans went on to log 5 of the final 6, the last of which came on an unsuccessful Thiel challenge, to take the match.
Jenness posted a match-leading 22 kills on .304 from the left pin.
Set three was a set of runs as Thiel turned a 9-6 deficit into a 13-9 advantage with
Danielle Aulet (Lawrence, Kan./Mineral Ridge) at the service line. She ended the run with an ace. A 5-2 Westminster spurt brought the home side within 1 at 17-16 before an 8-0 Thiel run with
Carlie Reynolds (Grove City, Pa./Grove City Area) at the stripe got Thiel on the board and extended the match. Reynolds had four aces in the run, including three straight to end the set.
Aulet dug a match-best 24 balls to run her career total to 2,032, just 19 shy of Stephanie Shipley's career record of 2,051. She added eight assists and a pair of aces.
Reynolds produced her team-best 12th double-double of the season with a match-best 35 assists and 15 digs along with five aces, just one shy of her career high.
The Blue and Gold used a 5-0 spurt in set on to pull ahead 21-18, but Westminster responded with 5-of-6 to pull ahead 23-22 before a
Kylee Jordan (Orrville, Ohio/Waynedale) kill knotted the score at 23. The home side logged the next 2 to take set one.
Jordan recorded six kills, five digs and a trio of aces.
An
Arin DeLattre (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) kill in set two got Thiel within 1 at 12-11 before the Titans rattled of 8 of the next 11 to lead 20-14. Thiel got as close as 3 down on a pair of occasions, but the Titans held on to lead 2-0.
DeLattre posted 10 kills and a season-most eight digs.
The Tomcats finished with 11 aces to the Titans' five while the home side held a 78-73 edge in digs.
Thiel closes the regular season Saturday at PAC regular season champion Hiram for a 1 p.m. clash. No matter the result, the Tomcats will host a PAC Championship Tournament match next Tuesday against the No. 3 seed from the South Division.
