Marlins Fall in Three in Hunt for Playoff Positioning

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- The Virginia Wesleyan College volleyball team battled with Lynchburg College Friday night for positioning in the upcoming Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) tournament, falling to the Hornets in three sets: 25-20, 25-20, 25-23.

The win secures a home quarterfinal match for Lynchburg, who locked up the No. 3 seed in the ODAC tournament, behind Randolph-Macon College and Washington and Lee University. Bridgewater College will round out the top four seeds, earning the final home match of the quarters.

Virginia Wesleyan is currently in a tie for sixth place with Guilford College. The Marlins will face Shenandoah University on Saturday, while the Quakers will face fifth-place Emory & Henry. The Marlins can finish anywhere from the No. 6 spot to missing the tournament completely depending on Saturday's results.

The first set of Friday's match started strong for Lynchburg as the guests jumped out to a 18-5 lead. Jennifer Garrett led the way for the Hornets early, posting eight kills in nine attempts for an .889 hitting percentage in the first set.

The Marlins battled back, cutting the deficit to just five points at 23-18 on a Colleen Smith and Amber Matalus block. LC gained the final two points needed in the set though on an attack error and service error.

VWC jumped out 3-1 in the second set and seemed as if it would even the sets at one each, but Lynchburg rallied again with the score knotted at 18.

With libero Lauren Stanford serving, the Hornets posted a kill each by Sydney Frink and Erin Farina, combined with a service ace and blocks from Amelia Dalton and Disa Haugsdahl to score five straight points, going up 23-18.

The Marlins cut it to 23-20, but a pair of errors pushed another set in the direction of LC.

Virginia Wesleyan posted an early 5-1 lead in the third set on three Tiffany Barrett kills and an Allison Mackley service ace.

Leading 6-2, the Hornets ran off a 9-1 run to take an 11-7 edge. Lynchburg led the remainder of the match.

Garrett led Lynchburg (17-9/7-3) with 16 kills, hitting .583, to go with a team-best 14 digs.

Barrett contributed a match-high 17 kills, while Emilee Pierson posted 16 assists and Mackley tallied 14 digs.

Virginia Wesleyan (15-14/5-5) will conclude the regular season with an ODAC match with Shenandoah University (13-15/4-6) Saturday at 11 a.m.