WILMINGTON — Abigail Carian had 27 kills and 20 digs as Wilmington Friends continued a standout season with a 3-1 road win over Ursuline on Nov. 23. Set scores were 23-25, 25-18, 25-23, and 25-23.
Carian was outstanding on both sides of the ball, hurting the Raiders with her bombs up front, then adding stellar defense. She was certainly not alone, as the Quakers benefited from strong offense as well from Kayla Farley and Reena Robinson, while libero Jocelyn Nathan anchored the defense. Nathan registered 31 digs; overall, the Quakers were credited with 94 digs.
Friends took an early 7-2 lead in the first set before the Raiders climbed back into it, tying the score at 8-8 on a violation on Friends. The teams bounced back and forth after that until Avery Brown claimed the end of the set as her own. A block by the senior put Ursuline up, 22-21, and she added another point on a cross-court winner. A violation on the Quakers sent it to set point, and after the Raiders allowed two points on hitting errors, Brown crushed a kill to give the hosts a narrow victory.
The second set stood at 12-11 Quakers before Friends regained the serve. Before Farley was done her turn behind the line, the Quakers had scored four straight, including a Farley ace and a big kill from Carian. The end came when Carian smashed an attempt off the Raiders’ block to the floor.
The third set was close early on, as Brown continued her assault on the Quakers’ defense, and Robinson scored on a few kills and an ace that tied things at 8-8. Friends eventually opened up a 20-15 lead, but a five-point run — started and ended with Hannah Kelley kills — knotted the score once again. Friends took it to set point with four straight, and after two Ursuline saves, it ended on a Raiders hitting error.
The Quakers kept the momentum going into the fourth. With Nathan on serve, they scored the first seven points before Kate Kardash got the Raiders on the board. The Raiders, led by Brown battled back, but Farley helped keep Friends on top. The Quakers eventually restored their seven-point advantage at 17-10 when Carian went down the middle, but consecutive kills from Kelley tied it up at 22.
Faith Kleitz went off the wall for Ursuline to create the final deadlock. The match ended on consecutive errors committed by the Raiders.
Farley finished with 15 kills and 16 digs, while Robinson had eight kills, two aces, two blocks and 14 digs. Camille DeBeary had six blocks for the Quakers, who improved to 9-1. They will travel to St. Georges on Tuesday for a 5 p.m. start before hosting Padua in the regular-season finale on Saturday at 5.
For the Raiders, Brown and Kelley each had 13 kills. Heyli Velasquez finished with 42 digs; overall, Ursuline had 90 digs. The Raiders are 5-6 and finish their regular season on Saturday at home against Saint Mark’s at 6:15 p.m.
