The Virginia Wesleyan University women's volleyball team (18-3, 8-1 ODAC) defeated conference opponent Guilford 3-1, winning 16-25, 25-21, 25-19, and 25-16.
Before the start of the game, the Virginia Wesleyan University women's volleyball program honored its three-member senior class:
Kyleigh Castengera,
Hannah Smith, and
Emma Claytor.
Madi Schmidt led the offense with 17 kills, a .382 hitting percentage, eight digs, four service aces, and three assists,
Hannah Smith had 13 kills, 14 digs, and two service aces, and
Madeleine Hanes recorded a team-high 21 digs and one assist.
Salena Jones registered 22 assists and eight digs and teammate
Niya Nash tallied 18 assists, three digs, two kills, and four block assists.
The Quakers came out strong, as they jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, but VWU rallied back with an 8-1 run to take a 10-8 lead. Guilford countered with an 8-0 run to lead 16-10 and then outscore the Marlins 6-3 to lead 22-13. The Quakers went on to win the first set 25-16.
Guilford kept their momentum from the first set and built an 8-3 lead. However, Virginia Wesleyan responded with a 7-0 run to lead 10-8. The Quakers went on a short 3-1 run to tie the set at 11-11. The two teams traded points until GC scored back-to-back points to lead 16-15, but VWU countered with a 5-1 run to lead 20-17. The Marlins outscored the Quakers 5-4 the rest of the set to win 25-21.
Virginia Wesleyan's offense exploded in the third set, charging out to a 9-2 lead. Guilford responded with a 4-1 run to cut the lead to 10-6, but VWU came back with a 6-3 run to lead 16-9. Over the next six points, each team scored three to bring the score to 19-12. However, the Quakers went on to outscore VWU 5-2 to bring the score to 21-17, but the Marlins outscored the visitors 4-2 to win the third set 25-19.
In the fourth set, the Marlins built a 10-4 lead, but Guilford responded with a 5-2 run to cut the host lead to 12-9. Virginia Wesleyan countered with a 6-1 run to extend their lead to 18-10. Guilford had a late 4-1 surge to bring the score to 20-14, but VWU strung together a 6-2 rally to complete the reverse sweep with a 25-16 win in the fourth set.
