VIRGINIA BEACH --Taylor Allen drew one of the loudest roars from a large, boisterous Virginia Wesleyan College crowd Thursday when she ripped the volleyball past three Roanoke College Maroons during an intense fifth set in a big Old Dominion Athletic Conference match at the Jane P. Batten Student Center.

The 6-foot sophomore from Bowie, Maryland (Bladensburg Elizabeth Seton) slammed the ball onto the Forsyth Court, pushing the host Marlins into a 14-11 lead, evoking the roar from the partisan crowd.  It was the second major play late in the game by Allen, who also blocked the Maroons at the net to give VWC a 12-10 lead in the set.

Allen's play was part of a dramatic comeback by the Marlins (17-9) en route to a thrilling five-set victory, 25-18, 17-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-11, in a showdown for third place in the conference standings. The Marlins, who now own a 7-3 ODAC record along with Roanoke and Lynchburg College, will enter the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed by virtue of victories over both the Maroons and Hornets.

Roanoke (21-6) had the opportunity to build on a major break in the fifth game, after VWC reached an 8-7 lead. The teams switched sides of the court, but before play resumed, Virginia Wesleyan was penalized for a serving error.  The Marlins' 8-7 lead was erased, penalty points awarded, and Roanoke suddenly owned an 8-6 advantage in the deciding set.

"Our libero served twice and we were penalized," said VWC Head Coach Andrea Hoover. "It was my fault.  I should have caught it.  But, our girls responded very well.  We've talked about playing with heart, playing hard and coming back from adversity, and that's exactly what we did.  It's a very big win for us."

Roanoke managed to stay in front at 10-7 in the fifth forcing a VWC timeout, but the Marlins returned to the court spurred on by the large crowd.  Key plays by rookie Tempe Martens (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park)  and sophomore Kala Guy (Fishersville, Va./Wilson Memorial) sparked a 4-0 run that gave Virginia Wesleyan an 11-10 lead and forced a Roanoke timeout. 

Taylor's block followed shortly after the timeout and the Marlins maintained a two-point lead to the end.

The match started off well for VWC as Lauren Gaca (Virginia Beach/Princess Anne), Erin Paton (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) and Lindsey Spears (Virginia Beach/Ocean Lakes)helped the Marlins to a 7-3 lead.  VWC never trailed and opened up a 19-13 lead en route to a 25-18 win.  Roanoke trailed the second set 6-5, before the play of Kelsey Largen, Rachel Hargens and Kylie Lucas helped lead the Maroons to a 13-9 lead.  Roanoke stretched the lead to 22-16 and never let up.

Virginia Wesleyan came back quickly in set three however, as Paton served an opening ace that put the Marlins on path to a 6-3 lead. The Marlins stayed in front until mid-set when Kayla Paxton and Lucas produced plays that helped Roanoke to take an 18-17 lead. Rookie Alex Kirk (Concord, N.C./Robinson) tied the score at 18-all for VWC and the teams battled to four more tie scores, the last one at 22-all. A kill by Guy gave VWC a 23-22 lead and the Marlins held the advantage the rest of the way before Guy came through again with the set-deciding kill. 

VWC rode the momentum of that win into an early lead in the fourth set, but Roanoke snapped a 9-all lead and led thereafter.  The Maroons opened up a 19-10 lead, only to see the Marlins spark a 7-1 run behind Guy, to pull within a 20-17 score.  But, Maggie Wagner and Hawkins came up with key points that put the Maroons back on track to the 25-21 finish.

Virginia Wesleyan came back to start the decisive fifth set with a 5-2 lead and overcame the serving error to knock off the Maroons down the stretch.

--AMDG--