(BEREA, Kentucky) – Despite a career-high 43 digs from Logan McQuillin, the Wilmington Quakers were outlasted by the Berea Mountaineers, 3-2, Tuesday night at the Seabury Center in a match in which no set was decided by more than four points.
Although the Mountaineers opened the match on a 12-6 run, the visiting Quakers roared back into the set. Trailing 17-10, the Green and White, powered by two service aces from Emma Doherty and two kills from Magee Fain, used a 9-1 run to take the lead. Thanks to two kills from Aubrey Clark late in the set, Wilmington had set point twice. However, Berea fought off both opportunities before ultimately taking the opening set, 27-25.
After tying the score at 6-6 on a Berea attack error, Wilmington did not trail for the remainder of the second set. Although the Mountaineers used a 4-0 run to tie the frame at 15-15, Wilmington, spurred on by two kills apiece from Emelia Mohler and Fain, scored 10 of the final 16 points en route to a 25-21 victory.
Despite trailing 14-10 in set three, the Quakers, led by two kills from Mohler along with a kill and a service ace from Clark, countered with an 11-1 run to take command of the frame. Berea responded with a late 6-2 run, but Wilmington staved off the comeback effort to win the third set, 25-22.
In similar fashion to the previous frame, Berea pulled ahead 14-10 in set four. This time, however, the Mountaineers answered a 6-2 Wilmington run with an 8-3 run of their own en route to a 25-21 victory, forcing a decisive fifth set.
In the fifth and final set, the Quakers took an 8-7 lead on a kill from Paige Shouse, but Berea responded and Wilmington did not lead again. The Mountaineers finished the match on an 8-3 run to take the deciding set, 15-11, dropping the Quakers to 8-5 on the season.
Notables
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Logan McQuillin recorded a career-high 43 digs, the most by an OAC volleyball player in a match since Wilmington's Blake O'Brien tallied 47 against Anderson on Sept. 28, 2022.
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Emelia Mohler amassed a team-high 13 kills. Magee Fain added 10 kills, while Brinlee Preston generated a season-high eight kills in the loss. Preston also added a team-high six total blocks.
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Emma Specht tallied a double-double with 10 digs and a season-high 21 assists. Jana Metz added 20 assists.
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Emma Doherty recorded the first double-digit-dig match of her career with a career-high 14 digs.
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Aubrey Clark recorded a team-high three service aces.
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This was Wilmington's first five-set match of the season and its second match to go four sets or more.
Next Up
Wilmington opens OAC play with a trip to Tiffin, Ohio, to take on conference foe Heidelberg at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1.
The match will be streamed on FloSports, with live stats available at www.bergathletics.com
