GREENVILLE, Ill. - Playing its first volleyball match in school history as a Top 15 nationally-ranked team, 15th-ranked Webster University played perhaps one of its best defensive matches of the season as they held 16th-ranked Greenville to an .089 attack percentage en route to earning a three-set sweep (25-17, 25-21, 25-19) Wednesday evening over the Panthers in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference at H.J. Long Gymnasium.
Prior to Wednesday's match, the Gorloks jumped eight spots in this week's latest AVCA Division III Top 25 poll to move into the Top 15 of the poll at No. 15. In the poll, Webster earned 299 points and is one three SLIAC teams ranked in the Top 20 as Westminster fell four spots to No. 10 and Greenville fell one spot to No. 16 this week.
Along with playing its first-ever match as a Top 15 nationally-ranked team, Webster also played its second consecutive match against Top 20 ranked foe as the Gorloks picked up a four set home win on Sunday over then 10th-ranked Westminster.
With the victory, Webster extended its win streak to three consecutive matches as they moved to 7-2 overall and 7-2 in the SLIAC on the year, while Greenville fell to 9-2 overall and 9-2 in the SLIAC. The win also helped Webster even its season series with the Panthers as Greenville picked up a sweep over the Gorloks on Webster's homecourt on Feb. 20.
While limiting Greenville to an .089 attack percentage, the Gorloks hit .242 on Wednesday as they recorded 44 kills, 64 digs and a match-high nine blocks. The .242 attack percentage is the third highest this season by the Gorloks.
Freshman right side hitter
Alexis Wolf (Quincy, Ill./Quincy) and sophomore outside hitter
Lauren Borik (Belleville, Ill./Althoff) each paced the Gorloks with 10 kills apiece and two players hit a combined .357 as Wolf hit a season high .444 on two errors and Borik hit .292 on three errors. Borik added 17 digs for her second straight double-double and third double-double on the year.
In addition, sophomore outside hitter
Peyton Eikel (Dardenne Prairie, Mo./Liberty) added six kills and sophomore setter/right side hitter
Mary Nelson (St. Louis, Mo./Bishop DuBourg) recorded a career-high five kills and added career highs in both assists (15) and digs (9).
Webster's block party on the night was led by five blocks from junior middle hitter
Kylie Burke (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West), while sophomore middle hitter added four blocks, including her team-leading fifth solo block on the year.
The Gorloks also had six aces and no service errors on the night as Borik had three aces, while junior libero
Kyra Gensel (Clarkton, N.C./Harrells Christian) had two aces and Burke had the other ace.
Freshman
Delaney Demman (Omaha, Neb./Central) set the pace for Webster's offense as she had 17 and added nine digs.
Mia Bonacorsi paced Greenville with a match high 14 kills and added 12 digs for a double-double. No other Greenville player beside Bonacorsi had more than five kills. Anna Finch had four blocks and added four kills in the loss.
The Gorloks will look to win its fourth consecutive match this coming Friday, March 12 as they travel to Lousiville, Ky., for a 7 p.m. ET match against Spalding University. The Gorloks picked up a four set win over the Golden Eagles in Grant Gymnasium on Feb. 26.
The first set belonged to the Gorloks as they scored the first four points and led 11-4 midway through the set, before Greenville used a 4-1 run to cut Webster's lead to 12-8. The Panthers would eventually push within three points on three different occasions, but Webster would score six of the next eight points to push in front 21-14. During the run, Borik recorded back-to-back aces and Nelson began and ended the run with kills. After two consecutive attack errors by the Gorloks brought the home team within 21-16, Webster would close out the set by scoring four of the final five points, including Borik and Burke capping the 25-17 set win a block. In the set, Webster hit .182 with 12 kills and had three aces, while Greenville hit .000 with nine kills and nine errors.
Set 2: While the first set belonged to Webster, the second set was a back-and-forth affair as it featured nine tied and four lead changes. The teams were tied at 3-3, 5-5, 7-7, 9-9, 10-10, 11-11 and 12-12 and following that final tie at 12-all, the Gorloks would reel off three straight points to take a 15-12 lead. The Gorloks lead would eventually climb to 22-16 following back-to-back aces by Gensel. The Panthers, though, responded with a 4-1 run to pull within 23-20. Two kills by Wolf that were sandwiched between a kill by Emily Stahl helped the Gorloks win the set, 25-21 and take a 2-0 lead in the match. Webster hit .250 with 16 kills in the set, while Greenville hit .157 with 14 kills.
Set 3: Much like the first set, the third and ultimately the final set, Webster scored five of the first six points to take an early 5-1 lead. The lead would grow to as much as 15-5 following a 6-1 run after Greenville pulled within 8-4. After a ball handling error by Demman and three straight kills from Bonacorsi dropped WU's lead to 15-8, the Gorloks would then score three of the next four points to pull in front, 18-9. Greenville wouldn't go away without a fight as they used a 9-5 run to pull within 23-17. The two teams would then trade the next four points to help Webster seal its 25-19 set win and secure its fifth three set win of the season. In the set, Webster hit .279 with 16 kills and four blocks, while GU hit .087 with 11 kills and seven attack errors.
