Urbana Downs Scots to Claim Second Kilt Classic Title

Tiffany Rice records one of her 10 blocks on the weekend in the championship match with Urbana.

After finishing third the previous three years, The College of Wooster volleyball team finally had its chance to take home the trophy at its own tournament on Saturday afternoon in Timken Gymnasium, but last year's champion, Urbana University, had other designs in mind as the Blue Knights wrapped up another Kilt Classic title by handing the hosts a very close three-game loss. The Fighting Scots finished 3-2 on the weekend, with both losses coming against Urbana, to improve their overall mark to 8-2 on the year.

Mt. Vernon Nazarene University locked up third-place with a hard-fought five-game win (30-22, 30-32, 30-20, 23-30, 15-11) over Muskingum College, while Bluffton College got by St. Mary's (Ind.) College in four games (30-21, 22-30, 30-28, 30-17) to claim fifth. The battle for seventh-place also went the distance, with Westminster (Pa.) College edging Point Park University in five (30-25, 19-30, 30-22, 24-30, 16-14).

Pool play began on Friday night at 6 p.m., with the host Scots battling the defending champion Blue Knights, winners of seven-straight matches entering the event. Game one of the match looked to be headed to a repeat of the 46-44 marathon the two squads put on at last year's Kilt Classic, but Urbana put a close to the scoring with a 38-36 victory. Wooster dropped the second game by two (28-30) before bouncing back in the third set with a 30-21 win. However, Urbana ended the Scots' chance at a comeback with a 30-19 win in game four.

Wooster rebounded with a convincing 3-0 (30-21, 30-5, 30-22) victory over Point Park later on Friday night, setting up a showdown against Westminster early Saturday morning, with the second-seed in the schools' pool on the line. The Scots had no trouble with the Lady Titans, winning 3-0 (30-22, 30-21, 30-24) behind Tiffany Rice's match-high 20 kills.

The Fighting Scots' next opponent, Mt. Vernon Nazarene, had locked up the first seed in the other pool with a five-game win (30-32, 30-22, 30-32, 30-19, 15-10) over Muskingum earlier in the morning. Wooster jumped all over the Lady Cougars in the first two games with 30-18 and 30-24 wins, to jump out to the 2-0 lead. Mt. Vernon, who had won all 16 matches this season prior to its contest with Wooster, bounced back to take game three 30-19 and looked to be on the verge of winning game four as well, leading 27-25 and holding serve. But the hosts rebounded to win the match 30-28 to earn a trip to their first Kilt Classic finale. Rice and sophomore Carolyn Ciriegio lit up the Lady Cougars for a combined 45 kills, while senior libero Mary Kate Fowkes tallied a team-high 37 digs.

The championship game was as tightly contested as expected, with neither team gaining a real advantage at any point. Each game, Urbana reached match point first, only to see the Scots rally to knot the score. Unfortunately for the hosts, the Blue Knights capitalized on their opportunities and eventually put the match away in straight sets 32-30, 33-31, and 32-30, to claim the tourney trophy.

Leading the way for Wooster was the senior duo of Rice and Fowkes, who each notched all-tournament honors. Rice led Wooster in kills (82) and hitting percentage (.346), while Fowkes held down the back line with a team-best 7.06 digs per game.

Ciriegio finished second on the team in both kills (76) and digs (73), while juniors Erin Schaffner and Sarah Marschall tallied 42 and 31 kills, respectively. Marschall also posted team-highs in both service aces (8) and blocks (19).

Sophomore setter Heather Wolff paced the offense with 13.59 assists per game on the weekend to go with 15 kills, three service aces, and 47 digs.

Mary Brunner (MVP) and Lisa Schulte notched all-tournament honors for Urbana, while Shena Beheler of Mt. Vernon and Hannah Babcock of Muskingum rounded out the rest of the all-tournament team.

The Scots resume competition on Wednesday, Sept. 14, with a non-league contest against Wilmington College in Timken Gym. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.