CHESTER, Pa. (Sept. 20, 2016) – Senior captain Brooke Ruditys (Upper Chichester, Pa.) notched her second double-double of the season and sophomore Natalie Winn (San Marcos. Calif.) closed out two sets with aces to help lead the Widener University volleyball team to a 3-0 victory over Wesley on Tuesday evening at the Schwartz Center. The Pride rallied from behind in each frame after facing early deficits to win by set scores of 25-19, 26-24 and 28-26.
 
Widener surrendered the first two points of the opening frame, but a Ruditys kill put the hosts on the board and a service ace by Winn gave the Pride a 5-4 advantage and a lead they would not surrender. Senior Lauren Elliott (Aston, Pa.) added two aces of her own and the margin grew to as many as nine at 23-14 due to a Wolverine attacking error, providing enough insurance for the Pride to take the opening set on a Winn smash which was set up by senior captain Sabrina Barbieri (Glen Mills, Pa.).
 
The Pride never led in the second set until the final two plays and found themselves trailing 4-1 due to several miscues on their own side of the net. But despite the slow start, the team continued chipping away at the deficit and tied the match four times at 20s, 22s and 23s and 24s. Barbieri then found Ruditys for a kill to give the Pride their first lead of the frame at 25-24, and Winn put the Wolverines away with an ace.
 
Widener once again shook off a slow start in the third set to complete the sweep. After a kill by Tania Rounds made it 6-1 in favor of the visitors, the Pride answered with five straight points to get back in the game with freshman Liz Kwon (Ellicott City, Md.) serving. Junior Lauren Daly (Springfield, Pa.) teamed up with Winn and sophomore Nicole Dorman (East Norriton, Pa.) on blocks during the stretch. Even though the Wolverines recovered and bounced back ahead by as many as six, the Pride fought back again and took their first lead of the frame at 22-21 on a block by Ruditys and Kalinock.
 
Wesley (7-4) appeared to be poised to force a force frame when Jessica Tynes served with the visitors holding a 24-22 advantage on the scoreboard, but a service error would swing the pendulum in the other direction and prove to be costly. Kalinock recorded a kill to tie it up at 24s and extend the set, and Winn broke a 24-all deadlock by recording a kill followed by a service ace on match point.
 
Ruditys led Widener with a double-double effort, registering 13 kills and 10 digs. Dorman smashed 16 kills and hit at a .371 clip, while freshman Ashley McAfee (Abington, Pa.) added a career-high 13 digs. Winn notched nine kills, three aces and five digs, and Elliott finished with 14 digs and two service aces.
 
Wesley was paced by Tionne Graves-Brown in the losing effort. She posted a .290 hitting percentage with 11 kills against only two errors on 31 swings while also providing seven digs. Lindsay Burg notched 14 assists, while Kristin Wissler had 18 digs.
 
Widener (5-7) resumes Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth play when it entertains Albright tomorrow evening at 7:00 p.m.