PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia University women's volleyball team secured a spot in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Tournament and a first-round home match with a 20-25, 25-17, 27-25, 13-25, 15-4 win over Holy Family Wednesday night in the Campus Center.

Philadelphia—a winner in its last four and 16 of its last 17—improves to 18-5 overall and 14-2 in the CACC. The Rams can win the CACC southern division title with a victory on Saturday, Nov. 7 at Wilmington University.

Chelsea Hughes (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) posted a match-high 15 kills and hit .400 to lead the Philadelphia offense. She needs two kills to join the Philadelphia University 1,000-kill club.

Lauren Laucella (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) contributed nine kills, while hitting .615. Nina Morvin (Willow Grove, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) posted 27 assists. Michele Chai (Sinking Spring, Pa./Berks Catholic) led the team with 17 digs, while Allison Manley (Saint Charles, Ill./Saint Charles East) and Courtney Wensel (Bechtelsville, Pa./Berks Catholic) had 16 digs each.

Holy Family (11-17, 10-7 CACC) took control of the opening set with a 6-2 run, including three Philadelphia attack errors, to break a 14-all tie and take a 20-16 lead. Wensel sparked a string of three straight Ram points to close the gap to 20-19 and force the Tigers to call timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Holy Family scored five of the last six points to win the set.

The second set was all Philadelphia as it opened up a 12-5 cushion. Laucella led the early charge with three kills, while Manley added a kill and a service ace. Three consecutive Ram errors allowed the Tigers to pull within two (15-13). Unfazed by the errors, Philadelphia responded with a 6-1 run to increase the lead to 22-14. Wensel had the only kill during the surge.

Philadelphia erased a 22-15 Holy Family lead to come from behind and take the third set. Hughes' first of three kills sparked a 9-2 charge that allowed the Rams to tie the set at 24. Wensel added two service aces. After the Tigers' Emma Herring recorded a kill to give the home team set point, Holy Family handed Philadelphia the set with three straight attack errors.

Philadelphia hit -0.091 in the fourth, just its fifth set with a negative hitting percentage all season, as Holy Family never trailed to tie the match. The Tigers—who recorded five service aces in the fourth—led by as many as 13 points twice during the set (23-10, 24-11).

The Rams dominated the fifth set, hitting a match-best .400 and holding the Tigers to .000. Manley had a pair of kills during a key run of seven straight Philadelphia points to secure the match.

Chase Wassel and Herring recorded 12 kills each for the Tigers and Candyce Riley added 20 digs.