Box Score NEWARK, Del. – Chelsea Hughes (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) recorded her 1,000th career kill and the Philadelphia University women's volleyball team won the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) southern division with a 13-25, 25-18, 28-26, 25-13 victory over Wilmington (Del) Saturday afternoon in the WU Athletics Complex.
Hughes—who had a season and match-high 19 kills—became the fifth player in Philadelphia University history to post 1,000 kills. She also passed Nicole Berkstresser's 1,001 career kills to take over fourth on the school's career kills list.
Courtney Wensel (Bechtelsville, Pa./Berks Catholic) 17 kills and 15 digs to record her ninth double-double of the season. Nina Morvin (Willow Grove, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) tied her season-best of 30 assists and added a season-high 14 digs for her second double-double.
Leading the Philadelphia (19-5, 15-2 CACC) defense were Michele Chai (Sinking Spring, Pa./Berks Catholic) and Allison Manley (Saint Charles, Ill./Saint Charles East) with 24 and 23 digs, respectively.
The Wildcats (21-8, 14-4 CACC) took control of the first set early on with a 12-3 run, which included four Wilmington service aces. Hughes' milestone kill came late in the set, pulling Philadelphia within eight (20-12). Wilmington finished the set with six service aces.
Philadelphia came to life in the second set, hitting .217 while Wilmington hit -0.025. Hughes had four kills during a set-opening 10-3 run. After Allison Briley cut the Ram lead to 13-9, Philadelphia scored four in a row to take a four-point advantage (17-9). Wilmington got as close as three (21-18), but Corinne Justus (Allentown, Pa./Emmaus) sparked a set ending 4-0 run with back-to-back kills.
The third set featured 10 ties and four lead changes. The Rams fended off two set points and then took a 26-25 lead on Hughes kills. After an Alex Siolos kill tied the set at 26, the Rams got block assists from Lauren Laucella (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) and Manley and Justus and Manley to win the set.
With the final set tied at four, Laucella sparked a 6-1 surge with one of her seven kills to give the Rams a 10-5 lead. Wilmington closed the gap to 13-10, but Philadelphia made quick work of the rest of the set by scoring 12 of the final 15 points to win the match. Hughes and Wensel had four kills each during the 12-3 run.
Briley had 12 kills for Wilmington, while Miranda Shaw posted 30 assists.
Philadelphia welcomes Chestnut Hill to the Gallagher Center for a CACC match on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. The team will hold its Autism Awareness Night and asks fans to wear blue.
