Newark, Del. - The Millersville volleyball team split both its matches on day two of the Wilmington Tournament. The Marauders fell to Le Moyne in their first match, 3-1. In the second match, they faced Holy Family for a second time this year and won again, this time in straight sets.

The Black and Gold (3-4) took the first set with the Dolphins (6-5) but fell short in four (25-16, 25-27, 18-25, 22-25). MU faced the Holy Family (4-7) back on Sept. 7 as part of the Marauder Clash and it took five sets for them to come out on top. This time, it only took three for Millersville to be victorious (25-17, 25-13, 25-22).

The Marauders played well in their first set against Le Moyne. They began the set on a 5-2 run with Taylor Smith and Kayla Wallace each sending home two kills to fuel the hot start. When the score was 5-4, four errors by the Dolphins pushed Millersville's lead to 9-4. Their advantage was never fewer than four and the Black and Gold led by as many as nine, 21-12. They cruised to a 25-16 set one victory and posted a .222 hitting percentage to just .056 from LMC.

In the second set, there were six ties in the first 16 points scored but Le Moyne couldn't gain the advantage. The Dolphins then used an 8-4 run to go up by a score of 16-12. Three straight points from Millersville pulled them within one, 15-16. From then on, Le Moyne pushed their lead to four on three separate occasions, but Millersville didn't back down. The Marauders finally tied the score again at 24-24 but the Dolphins scored three of the next four points to take the set, 27-25.

Le Moyne completely controlled the third set early on. It started on an 8-2 run, then it led 10-4 and 14-7. The Black and Gold weren't done yet, though. Millersville used a 7-2 run to cut Le Moyne's lead down to two, 16-14. The deficit was two again at 18-16 but that was the closest the Marauders got as the Dolphins took set three by a score of 25-18.

Millersville scored first in the fourth set, but didn't lead again until the 17-16 mark. That was the only time the Black and Gold led though and after two ties, Millersville surrendered their lead, 20-21. The Dolphins went on to win the set 25-22 and the match, three sets to one.

Katie Lesinski led the attack with 11 kills while Jessica Franz tallied 20 assists and 14 more helpers came off the hands of Erika Smith. On defense, three Marauders registered double-digit dig totals including Brooklyn Smith (23), Franz (17) and Taylor Smith (11). Wallace tallied two blocks above the net as well.

In the first set against Holy Family, the Tigers posted a hitting percentage of -.022 while Millersville hit .150. The Marauders trailed early 0-3 but but they tied the set at 4-4 and never looked back. The Black and Gold went on a 7-1 run to go up 11-5 and led by as many as nine, 24-15. MU rolled to a 25-17 set-one victory.

The offense for Millersville got even hotter in the second set as they registered a blistering .269 hitting percentage. The Marauders led the Tigers 8-6 before an 8-1 run made it 16-7. From then on, Holy Family couldn't put a run together of more than two points and Millersville scored the last four to claim a lopsided 25-13 set victory. It was the Kayla Wallace and Katie Lesinski show as they sent home four kills and three kills, respectively.

Holy Family began the third set on a 5-1 run and was up 9-4 before the Black and Gold mounted their comeback. A 9-2 run put the Marauders up 13-11. From then on out, the Tigers got within one at 22-21 but could never tie it up as MU won the third set 25-22 to sweep Holy Family in straight sets.

Wallace led the offense with nine kills, Lesinski tallied eight and Mary Paul totaled seven as well. Jessica Franz aided the attack with 20 assists and Erika Smith added 12 too. Brooklyn Smith led the defense with 26 digs and Lesinski dug out 16 attacks too. Paul and Sydney Gallagher both blocked three attacks above the net.

At the conclusion of the tournament, Brooklyn Smith was one of nine to be named to the Wildcat Regional Invitational All-Tournament Team. The Sophomore from York, Pa. led the Marauders in digs in each of Millersville's four matches. Her weekend-high came against the Adelphi Panthers in which she tallied 29 digs. 

Next up, the Marauders begin PSAC play on Sept. 27 in Greensburg, Pa. They will take on Seton Hill at 11:30 a.m. and IUP at 5 p.m.