CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - After a "gut-wrenching" five-set setback on Friday night to Rutgers-Camden, the Dickinson volleyball team entered Saturday trying to leave the DeSales University Invite with a pair of wins over Clarkson University and the host Bulldogs. Unfortunately for the Devils, the first match of the day against the Golden Knights wrote a familiar script with DC coming out on the wrongend of a 3-2 score, but the Red and White responded quite well later in the afternoon blanking the host DeSales 3-0 at Billera Hall.

Match One - Golden Knights 3, DEVILS 2 (20-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-23, 15-13)

Things began well for DC as kills by Jessica Currie, Amelia Kim, Emma Popham and Eliette Whittaker opened up an early 11-5 lead. Then, Clarkson fought back with a 6-2 charge on scores by Anna Mayer and Allyson Treichel to close within 13-11. Willow Palmer, Kim and Whittaker along with six CU miscues stretched the Devils lead to 23-15. After Isabelle Crow and Cecilia Velardi helped to win five in a row, a kill for Alexa Barowski and mishit for Treichel gave DC the 25-20 win.

Dickinson was flying early in the second as well with Mathilde Verbitsky, Barowski, Kim, Popham and Whittaker giving the Red and White a commanding 14-5 advantage. Four of the next six went to the Knights with Emily Alexander and Natalie Peacock getting into the action to make it 16-9. A spike by Kim off a dish from Camille Dofiles sparked a 4-1 push with Popham chipping in two kills as well letting the Devils "double-up" at 20-10. An 11-4 outburst by CU cut the deficit to 24-21, but Kim put away the final kill of the set (25-21).

To begin the third the two sides traded the opening dozen points to leave things at 6-6, before scores by Barowski, Kim and Whittaker maintained the deadlock 9-9. Things continued to "seesaw" back-and-forth with offense from Barowski, Currie, Kim, Popham and Whittaker keeping things even at 17-17. After that though it was all Clarkson as they closed the frame on an 8-2 rampage culminating in an ace for Sara Galante to take a 25-19 win. 

The fourth set was once again very tight to start as two kills from Popham were the only two actual points earned by DC as four CU errors helped the score to stay even at 6-6. A kill by Barowski along with an ace for Dofiles were some bright spots for the Devils during a 9-4 run by the Golden Knights as they seized a 15-10 advantage. The Red and White tried to battle back as Iona Nelson, Barowski and Popham them back to within 20-18. After a kill put home by Galante, DC rallied back to draw even at 21-21 thanks to scores by Kim and Popham. However, four of the next six went to the Knights for the 25-23 victory and forcing a decisive fifth.

Kim, Popham and Verbitsky gave the Devils an early spark in the fifth as they took a 7-4 advantage. Unfortunately, Clarkson had a strong response with four kills from Treichel aiding an 8-2 charge to give CU a 12-9 edge. A combination block between Popham and Whittaker, followed by kills from the same pair made it 13-13. A kill from Julia Bennett and a DC error allowed for CU to pickup the necessary point to close out the set 15-13. 

Red Devil Leaders
Kills -  Popham (15), Kim (12), Barowski (9)
Digs - Ann Marie Patterson (33), Avery Lewis (15), Dofiles (11)
Assists - Dofiles (28), Palmer (11)

Golden Knight Leaders
Kills - Treichel (14), Galante (13), Bennett (11)
Digs - Spector (22), Crow (13), Hangliter (12)
Assists - Crow (45)

Match Two - DEVILS 3, Bulldogs 0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-19)

Dickinson jumped on top of the hosts early in the match as Barowski, Kim, Lewis, Nelson, Popham, Verbitsky and Whittaker all posted kills to hand DC a 15-7 advantage. DeSales came back hard with an 8-4 push of their own thanks to kills from Grace Grandinetti, Paige Lewis, Peyton Porterfield and Delanie Zohler to make it 19-15. Five of the next seven went to the Devils with Barowski and Verbitsky putting away kills to move one point away from taking the set at 24-17. After three more points for the Bulldogs, the frame came to a close when Grandinetti was whistled for a ball-handling error to end it (25-20). 

To begin the second the two teams traded the opening dozen points with the Devils scores coming from Barowski, Lewis, Nelson, Popham and Verbitsky. The back-and-forth set continued with Nelson and Verbitsky keeping the score knotted at 12-12. A bad service by Dofiles seemed to wake the DC offense up as Barowski, Kim, Patterson, Popham and Verbitsky led an 8-2 romp to claim a 20-15 lead. Scores by Mykenah Calder, Regan Moeykens and Lewis trimmed the gap to 22-19, but Barowski, Nelson and Verbitsky tallied three straight to wrap it up at 25-19.

Moeykens put down the first kill of the third set, before Barowski, Kim, Lewis and Nelson organized a 14-4 stampede for the Red and White to take a 14-5 advantage. Consecutive Zohler scores stunted the DC romp for a brief moment, prior to Popham, Verbitsky and Whittaker all slamming home kills to extend the margin past double-digits to 22-10. DeSales would not go down quietly on their home court as Samantha Worontzoff, Calder, Grandinetti, Lewis, Moeykens and Zohler engineering a 9-2 stomp to cut the deficit to 24-19. The Red and White ended the match on the ensuing point when Verbitsky pounded down a pass from Palmer for the 25-19 victory.

Red Devil Leaders
Kills - Kim and Verbitsky (10), Nelson (8)
Digs - Patterson (15), Dofiles (7)
Assists - Dofiles and Palmer (19)

Bulldog Leaders
Kills - Lewis (7), Moeykens (5)
Digs - Maddalone (10)
Assists - Grandinetti (16)

Next on the Court
Dickinson (1-2) returns to action on Wednesday night at 7pm when they make the short trip over to Annville for a date with the Flying Dutchmen of Lebanon Valley College. Read Full Article