The Virginia Wesleyan University men's volleyball team (2-1, 1-0 ODAC) defeated Hood College 3-0, winning 25-18, 25-14, and 25-17 and dropping game two to Marymount in a five-set thriller, to a score of 26-24, 20-25, 25-22, 24-26, and 12-15.
Game One:
Matthew Sheppard led the team versus Hood as he tallied 10 points with seven kills, a .462 hitting percentage, two service aces, two block assists, and one dig.
Carlyle Campbell had seven points with six kills, a .625 hitting percentage, and two block assists, and teammate
JaMarhe Wills recorded six kills, a .600 hitting percentage, and three digs.
The Marlins had a strong start jumping out to a 3-0 lead, but the Blazers fought back with a 7-4 run to tie the set at 7-7. Virginia Wesleyan responded with a 7-1 run to take a commanding 14-8 lead. Hood countered with a 6-2 run to bring the score to 16-14 midway through the set. The Marlins responded with a 9-4 run to close out the set and win 25-18.
VWU built a 6-3 lead to start the second set, but the Blazers went on a 3-2 run to cut the lead to 8-6. The Marlins rallied going on a 5-1 run to extend their lead to 13-7. Hood stopped the run and outscored the host 2-1, but Virginia Wesleyan responded with an 8-1 run to lead 22-10. VWU went on to win the second set 25-14.
In the third set, Virginia Wesleyan went on a 7-3 run early. However, Hood responded with a 3-0 run to cut the lead to 7-6, but the Marlins countered with a 5-1 run to lead 12-7. The two teams traded the next several points to bring the score to 17-13, until the Marlins went on an 8-4 run to win the third set 25-17.
Game Two:
JaMarhe Wills led the team with 21 points, 19 kills, three digs, two assists, one service ace, and one solo block.
Matthew Sheppard had 14 points, with 13 kills, nine digs, and two block assists, and
Christian Harris had seven points five kills, six digs, one service ace, and one solo block.
A hard-fought match for both teams with the game tied 6-6 early in the first set. The Marlins broke the deadlock outscoring the Saints 5-2 to lead 11-8, but Marymount countered with a 5-3 run to cut the lead to 14-13. Virginia Wesleyan rallied with a 4-0 run to extend their lead to 18-13. The Saints never gave up and strung together a nice 7-2 run to tie the set at 20-20. VWU went on a 3-1 run to lead 23-21, but the Saints responded with their own 3-1 run to tie the set at 24-24. After the timeout, the Marlins scored the next two points to win the first set 26-24.
In the second set, the Saints rallied and built a 7-3 run early, but the Marlins went on a 3-2 run to cut the lead to 9-6. Marymount responded with a 3-1 run to lead 12-7, but VWU countered with a 4-1 run to bring the score to 13-11. The Saints held a two point lead until the Marlins went on a 4-1 run midway through the set to bring the score to 17-16. Marymount's offense took charge and outscored the Marlins 8-4 to win the second set 25-20.
A close third set with the score tied at 8-8 early on, but the Saints pulled away with a 3-1 run to lead 11-9. However, the Marlins countered with a 3-0 run to take a 12-11 lead. Marymount responded with a 5-1 run to lead 16-13, but the Marlins countered with a 5-1 run to lead 18-17. Marymount scored the next two points to lead 19-18, but then VWU strung together a big 6-1 run to lead 24-20. The Saint scored the next two points but a kill from
JaMarhe Wills gave the Marlins the 25-22 win in the third set.
Up 2-1 heading into the fourth set the pressure was on the Saints. However, they rose to the occasion and jumped out to an 8-4 lead early to force a VWU timeout. The Marlins battled back to cut the lead to 9-8, but Marymount fought back with a 4-2 run to lead 13-10. Virginia Wesleyan outscored the visitors 6-3 to tie the set at 16-16 and continued their hot streak going on a 4-2 run to lead 20-18. The Saints never gave up and rallied to go on a 5-2 run to lead 23-22. The Marlins called a timeout and scored the next two points to force a Marymount timeout, but the Saints came back to score three straight points and win the set 26-24.
Marymount kept their momentum from the fourth set as they jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the fifth set. The Marlins fought back outscoring the Saints 9-6, but the Saints held off the late surge to win the fifth set 15-12.
