Ashley Ferguson
Contributing Writer
Going out on top with a win over Oberlin College, The College of Wooster volleyball team wrapped up its season last Saturday at the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Oh.
Following a loss to DePauw University in Friday’s tournament opener and Kenyon College on Saturday, Wooster bested Oberlin 25-16, 25-18, 16-25, and 25-16 in the seventh-place match.
The senior class stood out among Wooster’s 20-woman bench, preserving an 11-0 streak during the first set against Oberlin, in which Anna Emmick ’17 breezed through with two kills and a block assist with teammate Megan Mey ’17. Lydia Webster ’17 recorded one of 14 total match kills in that streak.
Webster contributed five serve assists in addition to her kills to crank out 20.5 points for the Fighting Scots.
Emmick and Mey also brought the heat with eight kills and five kills, respectively, with two digs and three block assists in the later sets against Oberlin. Throughout that match, Gabrielle Basinski ’17 secured 25 digs to hold up the Yeomen while Taylor Mathews ’18 had nine.
Ksenia Klue ’18 also led the charge in the fight against the Yeomen with 10 kills and 11 digs, notching 11.5 points.
Two kills and two aces from Webster in the final set gave Wooster a 21-15 lead. Laura Sherer packed things away with a pair of aces for a final set score of 25-16.
“That was a great match for us because we worked really well as a team and were able to execute skills and strategies we have been working on all season,” said Mey. “I think that the success our team had this year was in large part due to how deep our bench was. It can be tough when 20 girls are competing for nine spots, but instead of letting negativity creep in, we worked hard to be a constant support system for each other.”
Overall, the team has stepped up to the competition this season, winning five sets over Bluffton University mid-September and taking one set from last year’s national runners-up from Wittenberg University in early October.
Individually, Klue had 271 kills this season, setting the fifth-place standard in the history of the program’s 25-point rally era, which began in 2008.
Emmick managed a .267 hitting percentage to top off her career, settling comfortably into the third-highest spot in the program’s history since 2008.
The team finished the season 18-11, the program’s best record since 2012.
“We could not have reached that accomplishment without each and every one of the members of this team,” said Emmick. “Between our hard offseason work, challenging practice drills and constant encouragement, our team showed a deep commitment to the program, and I think that commitment is reflected through our improved record. Overall, I am pleased with how my last season turned out, and could not have asked for a better group of girls to be there by my side the whole way!”
Wooster won six more matches this season than in the 2014-15 season. They finished in seventh-place in the NCAC.