WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (September 27, 2017) - A dominant fifth set led the FDU volleyball team to an 18-25, 25-18, 25-20, 21-25, 15-8 triumph over Wilkes Wednesday.

The win, the Devils eighth straight and fourth consecutive in five sets, moved the team to 12-3, and 2-1 in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom. Wilkes fell to 4-11 overall, and 0-3 in conference.

The Devils mustered just seven kills against six errors in the first stanza, while Wilkes had 12 kills with the same six errors. FDU dug an early hole in the set, and were simply unable to rebound, falling behind by as many as eight. The visitors took advantage when the score was 7-7 in the second, tallying seven of the next eight to pull ahead 14-8. Despite Wilkes getting as close as two, reigning MAC Freedom Player of the Week Lauren Harris started a 6-1 set ending run, pulling FDU even in the match.

With the Devils trailing 3-2 in third, the team bounced back quickly as FDU scored six of the next seven and never trailed again. Senior Melissa Gaffney racked up back-to-back kills after an ace by classmate Rachel Catena to push the lead to 15-8. The Colonels got within a point, but freshman Rebecca Morse changed the tide of the period, serving up consecutive aces. Junior Marissa Lehnert slammed home a kill to put FDU up 2-1 in the match.

FDU led 12-10 in the fourth, but three straight unforced errors aided a 6-0 spurt by the hosts, giving them a lead they didn't reliniquish in the period. The Devils closed to within 21-20 on a big double-block by junior Katie Quinlan and senior Courtney Conte but Wilkes tallied four of the final five to even the match at two and head to a deciding fifth and final set.

Wilkes tallied the first four points, but FDU countered five straight, including a solo block by Lehnert. Taking advantage of a block error with the score 8-7 Wilkes, Morse took over from the service line, tallying the final eight points. During the run, the rookie had two more aces and fended up a pair of Wilkes timeouts during the run. 

The Devils limited Wilkes to no blocks, and the defense was highlighted by 26 digs from Harris and 25 from Catena. Quinlan added 14 kills and two blocks, while Conte handed out 44 assists.

FDU is back in action on Saturday, taking on Mount St. Vincent and Lehman beginning at 11 a.m.