VIRGINIA BEACH-- Seniors Taylor Allen and Kala Guy combined for 41 kills against St. Mary's College on Saturday to lead Virginia Wesleyan College's Marlins to a thrilling 3-2 victory in the second match of a tripleheader at The Batten Center.

Virginia Wesleyan posted a 2-0 record in the event, preceding the win over St. Mary's Seahawks with a 3-0 Old Dominion Athletic Conference win over the WildCats of Randolph College  In the middle match, St. Mary's posted a 3-1 win over Randolph.

Allen (Bowie, Md./Bladensburg Elizabeth Seton) recorded a career-high 21 kills against St. Mary's (12-7), coming through with some big plays early in the crucial fifth game.  Guy (Fishersville/Wilson Memorial) took over late in the set, including back-to-back kills that snapped a 12-all tie and helped lift VWC to a 15-13 set win and match victory.

Virginia Wesleyan (17-6) fell 25-23 to the 'Hawks in the first set, but came back to take a 2-1 lead in set wins with a 25-18 decision in the second and a 27-25 finish in the third.  St. Mary's did not fold however, as the Seahawks came back strong in the fourth with a 25-16 win to force a fifth and deciding set.

There were 36 ties in the five set match, including eight in the first, the last at 21-all on an Allen kill.  St. Mary's took the lead for good on a kill by Cecilia Blanc (Gaithersburg, Md./Poolesville), stretching it to a three point advantage at 24-21.  A serving error and a kill by Tempe Martens (Severna Park, Md./Severnal Park) pulled VWC within 24-23, but Michelle Klima (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) hit the winning kill for St. Mary's.

Set two also included eight ties, until Torey Garin (Virginia Beach/Floyd E. Kellam) recorded a kill that gave VWC the lead for good at 15-14. Marin Crowder (Charlottesville/Crozet Western Albemarle) followed with consecutive aces and the Marlins eventually pushed out to a 24-17 lead before closing out the win.

There were 14 ties in set three, with the last at 25-all.  Back-to-back St. Mary's errors provided the points for the VWC win.  Set four included a tie at 1-1, but after that Mandy Goodspeed (Columbia, Md./Atholton) and Klima helped St. Mary's to take a lead and keep it to the end.

In addition to 20 kills, Guy also finished with 23 kills for VWC.  Crowder added 18 digs.  Martens finished with 12 kills and 11 digs, Mallory Slade (Burlington, N.C./Eastern Alamance) posted 33 assists, and Kirstin Sessoms (Virginia Beach/Bayside) added 24 assists. Jacquie Palaschak (Springfield/Fairfax W. T. Woodson) contributed four aces.

Goodspeed led St. Mary's with 16 kills.  Jenn Ridone (Crofton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) posted 10 kills and a team-high 16 digs, and Dani Thorne (Alexandria/T.C. Williams) added 27 assists and four aces.

In the day's opening match, Virginia Wesleyan improved to 6-2 in the ODAC with a 25-8, 25-16, 25-18 win over Randolph.  VWC dominated the first two sets, before the WildCats came on strong in the third.  The 'Cats payed the Marlins to a 17-all tie, but Garin came through with a kill that gave VWC the lead for good.

Allen led VWC with 12kills, Kerry Johnson (Richmond/J.R. Tucker) posted a team-high eight digs, and Slade finished with a team-high 17 assists.

Grayce Darden (Martinsville/Martinsville) and Jordan Templin (Ferrum/Franklin County) posted six kills each for Randolph, Kerry McMichael (Westminster, S.C./West Oak) had nine assists, and Lexi Harrington (Clemmons, N.C./West Forsyth) and Andrea Mewhinney (Sanford, N.C./Overhills) finished with four digs each.

Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Friday, Oct. 19, in Greensboro, N.C. against the host Quakers of Guilford College at 6 p.m.

--AMDG--