CHESTER, Pa. (Oct. 31, 2016) – Sophomore Nicole Dorman (East Norriton, Pa.) registered her 11th double-double as the Widener University volleyball team swept Lycoming in the play-in game of the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth Tournament on Monday evening at the Schwartz Center. The Pride won another tight match between the two programs by set scores of 25-23, 25-21 and 25-22.
 
Widener improved to 13-17 overall and advanced to the semifinal round of the conference tournament. Lycoming ended its 2016 campaign with an overall ledger of 15-20.
 
The visiting Warriors led for most of the opening set which would produce eight ties and two lead changes. Lycoming took a 2-1 advantage when Catherine Burger set up Tayler Whitman and Kristine Jahn for consecutive kills and moved ahead by a 5-2 score, but the Pride kept knocking on the door throughout the frame and would not go away. Senior captain Sabrina Barbieri (Glen Mills, Pa.) set up sophomore Janie Kalinock (Ellicott City, Md.) for a kill before adding an ace to give Widener an 18-17 edge, and the Pride never trailed the rest of the way. The Pride would clinch the set by a 25-23 decision on an attacking error by Lauren Fink.
 
The teams played a close set and were deadlocked for the fourth time at 9s courtesy of a kill by Fink. Widener, however, rattled off six straight points to take control and most notably got two kills from sophomore Natalie Winn (San Marcos, Calif.) during the hot stretch. Dorman and Kalinock then teamed up for A block to give the hosts their largest lead at 18-11, and Dorman later smashed a kill on set point to give the Pride the 25-21 set victory.
 
The third set proved to be another nail-biter, as the teams exchanged points and produced five lead changes and four ties through the first nine rallies. Junior Lauren Daly (Springfield, Pa.) and Dorman stuffed a Jahn attack to give the Pride a 6-4 edge, but the Warriors came back and moved ahead by a 12-11 score on consecutive errors by the hosts. Widener, however, did not go away and went ahead by an 18-17 score when Winn finished a pass from Barbieri to prompt a Warrior timeout. The break, fortunately, did not cool down the Pride and the hosts used the hot hand of Winn down the stretch to seal the set and match victory.
 
Dorman finished with 17 kills and 13 digs to lead the way for Widener, which advanced to the semifinal round of the conference tournament for the second straight season. She also had three blocks and two aces. Winn and Kalinock contributed nine and eight kills, respectively, and Barbieri notched 38 assists.
 
Lycoming used a balanced attack and got double-digit numbers from Emily Hepner and Burger. Hepner recorded 11 digs and three assists, while Burrger registered 17 assists. Whitman ended the match with seven kills and hit at a .462 clip.
 
The Pride will next travel to top-seeded Stevenson to face the host Mustangs in a MAC Commonwealth semifinal match on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 7:00 p.m.