Volleyball Forces R-MC to Five Sets

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- The Virginia Wesleyan College volleyball team battled through five tough sets before falling to Randolph-Macon College, 25-27, 25-17, 19-25, 25-15, 15-9, on Wednesday in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action.

Randolph-Macon has controlled the series between the two schools since 2007, a span of 11 straight victories. This is the first time the Marlins have forced a match with the Yellow Jackets to five sets since the 2009 season. The two schools also played a five-setter in 2007, a Marlin victory.

The first set went back and forth with neither team garnering a big lead. A Miranda Hall kill with the match tied at 24 gave the Yellow Jackets set point, but back-to-back kills by Tiffany Barrett put the Marlins ahead 26-25. Freshman Amber Matalus sent a kill home for the first-set win.

Randolph-Macon battled hard in the second set, not allowing the Marlins to take a lead throughout the game, hitting .351 against the Marlins' .200 mark.

The third set looked like it could be a deciding factor in the outcome of the game, and Randolph-Macon seemed to cease control, going up 3-1, but two kills from Doneisha Hall and a Maddie Starr service ace highlighted an 8-2 run that put Virginia Wesleyan up 10-5. The Marlins maintained a lead the rest of the game.

With the Marlins needing just more set for the victory, VWC seemed poised to end Randolph-Macon's streak in the series.

The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the fourth set, not letting Virginia Wesleyan get closer than seven points the rest of the way.

The fifth set started in similar fashion for Randolph-Macon, leading 8-2 before the Marlins came to life.

Two kills each by Kristina Scott and Barrett, combined with several errors, brought the Marlins within one point, 9-8. Randolph-Macon did not seemed phased by the loud Virginia Wesleyan crowd, surrendering just one point the rest of the way en route to victory.

Miranda Hall led Randolph-Macon (13-4/6-0) with 21 kills while Erin Quinn finished with 54 assists and Samantha Sallade tallied 23 digs.

Hall paced the Marlins with a career-high 16 kills to go with 22 assists from Emilee Pierson and 25 digs from Allison Mackley.

Virginia Wesleyan (8-12/1-4) hosts Averett University Thursday at 7 p.m.