ITHACA, N.Y. (Sept. 12, 2015) – Continuing play at the Bomber Invitational, the Widener volleyball team split a pair of non-conference match-ups on Saturday in Ithaca, N.Y.  The Pride downed Alfred 3-0 in the first game before dropping the second to Ithaca 3-1.

With the split, Widener dips to 4-5 on the year.

Against Alfred (1-5), the Pride finished with a combined attack percentage of .402 and knocking down 40 total kills.  The first set started evenly contested with the Blue and Gold holding just a three-point advantage at 11-8 before closing out the set with a 14-7 run to secure the 25-15 victory.

The second set leaned even more heavily in Widener's favor, taking the set by a score of 25-12.  After leading just 5-3, the Pride exploded for two six-point runs separated by a Heather D'Andrea kill, to extend the lead to 17-4.  Freshman Natalie Winn (San Marcos, Calif.) smashed kills for four of the final six points of the run.  The Saxons were unable to bring the deficit to single digits, with the closest they came at 22-12 before a Sabrina Barbieri (Glen Mills, Pa.) kill bookended by Alfred errors ended the set at 25-12.

The final set was more of the same as it ended in favor of the Pride at 25-15.  They jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back as back-to-back kills by freshman Kelsey Lee (Chesapeake, Va.) followed by one from classmate Nicole Dorman (E. Norriton, Pa.) ended the match.

Dorman led the way with a game-high 15 kills on 25 attacks for a .520 attack percentage.  Barbieri tossed up 33 assists for the Pride, while sophomore Audrey Rucker (Coatesville, Pa.) scooped up a leading 16 digs.

The Bombers (7-1) took down the Pride in the second game of the afternoon by scores of 25-20, 18-25, 25-21, and 25-20.

In the first set, the game saw six tied-scores by the time the scoreboard reached 10-10.  But then the hosts went on to score five of the next six to pull just far enough away to keep Widener at bay for the remainder of the set.

With nine ties at the 11-11 mark, the second set looked to be on its way to finishing like the first.  But the Pride put together four consecutive scores and added two more runs of three-unanswered leading to a 25-18 set win to tie the score at one set apiece.

Unfortunately for the visitors, Ithaca went on to take the next two sets in close match-ups, earning the four-set victory.

Dorman was once again the kills leader for the Pride, this time finishing up with 13 and adding 10 digs for her fourth double-double of her rookie campaign. 

Katie Evans led all players with 14 kills for the Bombers, Kayla Gromen had a game-high 38 assists, and Dylan Gawiski-Stern added 19 digs.

The Pride return home on Tuesday, Sept. 15 for a non-conference match-up versus Bryn Mawr at 7 p.m. in the Schwartz Center.