Ben Blotner
Senior Sports Writer
The Fighting Scots volleyball team put together a strong performance at the Ginny Hunt Kilt Classic this past weekend, going 3-1 in a series of well-played and mostly tight matches. Wooster took a pair of wins on Friday before splitting two matchups on Saturday.
“Over the span of two days, we had the opportunity to play multiple well-rounded and competitive teams. I think this past weekend allowed our team to exercise our strengths while also identifying areas of the game that we need to further develop,” said Bradlee Hartman ’21. “I feel that this weekend really set the tone for the season.”
The Scots started the event by cruising to a 25-20, 25-23, 25-21 win over Bethany College on Friday afternoon. Ashley Plassard ’19 led the way with 10 kills for a .316 kill percentage to go with 11 points. McKenzie Reese ’19 and Gabrielle Basinski ’19 tied for the team lead with 15 digs each, with Jordan Murray ’19 not far behind at 12. Anna Medema ’20 also had an impressive .400 kill percentage in five total attempts.
Friday’s nightcap was a much closer battle, but with the same result. Wooster came out on top, this time over Adrian College. The Scots battled to scores of 15-25, 25-10, 9-25, 25-19 and 15-11 for an exciting 3-2 match victory. Meghan Botsch ’21 had an impressive .333 kill percentage and a team-leading 21 digs, while Basinski racked up 20. Plassard had 12 points to again lead the Scots, with Katie Billetdeaux ’22 and Eleri Miller ’19 each contributing 10.5 as Wooster pulled it out in the final, winner-take-all set.
In Saturday’s early afternoon matchup against Westminster College, the Scots took their only loss of the weekend with 18-25, 25-16, 27-29, 20-25. The Titans’ Maya Steward ’22 had a strong showing with 12 kills for a .303 percentage, and Rachel Moore ’19 amassed 17 digs for Westminster. The Scots received some solid individual performances in the losing effort, as Billetdeaux had 14 kills and hit .414 while Marija Cyvas ’19 also reached .400, a sign of things to come for her in the next game. Basinski led all players with 23 digs.
Later that afternoon, Wooster finished its solid weekend performance by taking down the University of Pittsburgh, Bradford 25-21, 28-30, 25-22, 25-18. Plassard continued to shine with 18 kills for an outstanding .457 percentage, while Cyvas also dominated, putting up 14 kills and hitting .444. Basinski had her strongest match yet with 26 more digs, giving her a total of 84 for the weekend.
Overall, the first four matches at the newly-renovated version of Timken Gymnasium went very smoothly for the home team, which is now 10-3 on the season. “This year’s Kilt Classic was an amazing experience for Wooster volleyball,” Hartman reflected. “I can’t wait to be a part of all the great things we will accomplish this season. Roll Scots!”
The Fighting Scots volleyball team will be back in action on Sept. 21 with two matches at Heidelberg University. One match will be against Heidelberg while the other against Hanover College.