SPORTS
Wildcat Volleyball Earns 3-1 Win Over Duquesne
The Wildcats celebrate their win over Duquesne.
See our News of Davidson photo album from the game.
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Bella Brady, Xuan Nguyen and Isabel Decker all recorded double-doubles on Friday night, leading the Wildcats to a 3-1 victory against Duquesne University from inside Belk Arena. With the win, which held Atlantic 10 playoff implications, the ‘Cats are now 10-9 overall and improve to 6-3 in league play.
The matchup, which saw the fourth placed Wildcats take on the fifth seeded Dukes, was the second meeting between the two teams in just 12 days, where all four sets were previously determined by three points or less. This time, Davidson out-swung Duquesne .296-.157 while Hattie Rodriguez led the ‘Cats with a match-high 21 kills and Madeline Wynn was 12-of-18 at the net with zero errors (.667).
Brady (13 assists, 21 digs), Nguyen (23 assists, 11 digs) and Decker (10 kills, 10 digs) were also key pieces to the win, in addition to Anela Davis, Lauryn Albold and Sola Omonije who combined for 12 total blocks.
The Wildcats jumped out to a strong first set performance, swinging at a .333 attacking percentage and establishing an early four-point lead. Despite the Dukes closing in near the end, Omonije, Wynn and Rodriguez put things out of reach with three kills to secure the 25-23 set one win.
After 12 tied scores in the second set, which ultimately saw Duquesne settle the score with a 25-20 win, Brady and the Wildcats turned up the heat for sets three and four.
With the third frame tied at 3-3, Rodriguez provided a kill for the ‘Cats to earn the serve for Davidson. From there, Brady went on a seven-point service run to pull away to an 11-3 lead and the Wildcats never looked back. Thanks to the front line’s four blocks in the third, Davidson held the Dukes to just a .095 attacking percentage while torching the net at a .317 clip to win it 25-18.
In the fourth, Duquesne was all squared up with the Wildcats at nine points apiece. But with more strong service from Nguyen and several key blocks and offensive production from Wynn, Davidson pulled away to a four-point lead and ultimately ran away with the match-clinching set, 25-16.