(LYNCHBURG, Va.) – Wilson made the trip down I-81 to take on a pair of ODAC schools in a tri-match hosted by Randolph on Saturday. The Phoenix opened the day well with a sweep over Averett in the neutral site contest before falling to the WildCats in a hard fought, four set encounter.
The Basics
Scores: Match 1 – Wilson 3, Averett 0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-9)
Match 2 – Wilson 1, Randolph 3 (23-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-19)
Venue: Giles Gymnasium
Records: Wilson 8-6, Averett 3-8, Randolph 9-7
How It Happened (Match 1 vs. Averett)
- After a balanced opening, Wilson started to pull away in the middlegame of Set 1 with a 6-1 run on the power of kills from Scotty Zorn (FY, York, Pa. / Dallastown), Jackson Wolfe (SO., Abbottstown, Pa. / New Oxford), Jacob McCoy (Sr., York, Pa. / Spring Grove), and a block from Wolfe and McCoy. That put the Phoenix up 17-10 and they allowed the Cougars to string together two points just once the rest of the way.
- An 8-1 run in the second created the separation Wilson wanted as Satvik Sharma (So., Hummelstown, Pa. / Hershey) and McCoy recorded kills early while Gaetano Davis (FY, York, Pa. / York Suburban) capped it with an ace. Averett closed the deficit to five late before Wilson fired off four consecutive points with kills by Ryan Koontz (Jr., York Haven, Pa. / Red Land) and Wolfe to take a 2-0 lead.
- The third belonged to the Blue and White from the start with Demetrius Summons (Sr., Mechanicsburg, Pa. / Mechanicsburg) and Koontz getting kills to help give them a 5-0 lead. A 6-0 run in the middlegame then put Wilson up 16-6 with Koontz and Wolfe adding kills with Vincent Natale (Sr., Mt. Airy, Md. / Linganore) serving up an ace. Sharma served a pair of aces and got a kill during another 5-0 run as the Phoenix cruised from there.
How It Happened (Match 2 vs. Randolph)
- Wilson faced an early deficit on a 7-3 start by the WildCats, but eventually saw the Phoenix tie the frame at 15-all after kills form Zorn, Wolfe, and McCoy along with an ace from Simmons. Randolph appeared to have momentum late after scoring three-straight to go up 21-18 before Wilson countered with a trio of kills from Koontz along with a Randolph error to go up 22-21. Koontz and Wolfe added another down the stretch to edge the hosts 25-23.
- Randolph came out on fire in the second and opened up a 10-2 lead. Wilson was able to get within three a couple of times late after Koontz tallied a couple of more kills, but the WildCats scored five of the last six to tie the match.
- A pair of kills from Simmons and another from Wolfe helped put Wilson up 4-2 early in the third before Randolph exploded with a 16-5 run to take control en route to a 2-1 set lead. Wilson opened up a 5-3 lead in the fourth before Randolph countered with a 6-0 run to take control once again. The WildCats got stronger from there and the Phoenix couldn't get any closer than four late in the frame.
Inside The Numbers
- Koontz paced the offense with a combined 23 kills on the day. He reached double-figures in both with 10 against Averett and a baker's dozen against Randolph.
- Wolfe finished with 19 kills on the day and was strong on the receiving end with 14 digs.
- McCoy totaled 17 kills with a dozen in the nightcap against the WildCats. He did so with incredible efficiency with a .438 attack percentage.
- Camden Sterner (Jr., Spring Grove, Pa. / Spring Grove) led the back row with a combined 30 digs. He picked up a dozen against Averett and 18 more against the hosts.
- Sharma quarterbacked the offense with a combined 60 assists.
Up Next
League play awaits the Phoenix as they try their hand against the defending conference champion Lancaster Bible. They'll head there Tuesday with first serve set for 7 p.m.
