Millersville, Pa. – The Marauders came up victorious defeating Wilmington in five thrilling sets (26-28, 25-20, 25-22, 22-25, 15-12).

Match Highlights

Grace Dawson had a career-high 58 assists to go with 16 digs while Erin Harman recorded a personal best 21 kills in the match. Dawson recorded a then career-high 45 assists earlier this season against Pitt-Johnstown while Harman's previous career-high for kills came last season against Kutztown when she sent home 19. Brooklyn Smith recorded 35 digs and Katie Witwer and Kelsi Ceriani matched their career-highs with 15 and 16 kills respectively.

In the first set, Millersville held a close lead early and later extended the lead to five when Witwer sent home a kill to make the score 16-11 in favor of the Marauders. The Wildcats would mount a comeback though, eventually tying the set at 21 when Millersville committed a pair of errors and Erin Bistany recoded a kill. After Millersville scored the next two points, Alex Siolos and Ellie Harris recorded back-to-back kills to tie the match at 23. The Marauders would jump ahead by a point when Ceriani and Witwer sent home a pair of kills. Millersville could not hold the lead though when they committed an error and Wilmington scored on a service ace and kill to take the first set.

Millersville jumped out to an early lead in the second set looking to tie up the match. The Marauders held a six point advantage at 8-2 when Ceriani sent home a kill. When Wilmington cut the deficit to 12-11, Millersville responded by scoring six of the next eight points to extend their lead to five. The Marauders would keep this advantage when Dawson recorded a kill to make the score 21-16 and Wilmington took a timeout. The Wildcats came out of the break focused and cut the lead to three points when Allison Briley recorded a pair of kills. Millersville would stop the run when Emily Kaledas answered with a kill of her own and Wilmington committed an error to end the set.

In the third set, Wilmington took an early lead and held the advantage until Millersville tied the set at 11 when Rhianna Kalescky sent home one of her nine kills. The Marauders would take control here jumping out to a 15-12 lead and later extending that lead to five at 20-15. Wilmington attempted to make another comeback, when Bistany sent home a kill and Siolos recorded an ace but Millersville would not relinquish the lead when Harman recorded a kill and the Wildcats faltered on the last point to once again give Millersville the set victory.

It was Wilmington who took control early in the fourth set jumping out to an 11-6 lead over Millersville. The Marauders would answer though as they knotted the score at 12 when Dawson and Ceriani recorded back-to-back kills. The Marauders would overtake Wilmington and lead by two when Harman and Witwer sent home a kill each and the Wildcats committed an error and then called a timeout. The break seemed to energize Wilmington scoring four straight points to take a 21-19 lead. The Wildcats would not trail again finishing the set on an Allison Briley kill to give them a 25-22 set victory.

In the fifth and final set, Millersville would take the lead early and would never trail in the set. Wilmington trailed by two before they rallied behind a pair of Marauder errors to tie the set at seven. Millersville responded when Harman, Witwer, and Kaledas sent home consecutive kills to give the Marauders a three point advantage. Millersville would eventually finish off the match in fitting fashion when Dawson set up Harman for her 21^st kill of the night to give the Marauders a 15-12 victory.

Taylor Smith added five service aces as the Marauders improve to 2-4 in five-set matches this season and are now above .500 on the season (16-15).  Millersville finishes its season on the road this weekend at East Stroudsburg Friday (7 p.m.) and then Kutztown Saturday (7 p.m.).