The Virginia Wesleyan University men's volleyball team (3-2, 1-1 ODAC) lost to conference opponent Randolph-Macon in a five set thriller, falling 16-25, 25-22, 25-20, 14-25, and 12-15.
Matthew Sheppard led the team with 14.5 points, 12 kills, seven digs, five block assists, and one assist,
Landon Brinkley had 13.5 points with 10 kills, eight digs, three aces, and one block assist, and
JaMarhe Wills tallied 11.5 points, 11 kills, 13 digs, and one block assist.
A highly contested first set saw the teams deadlocked at 10-10 but, the Yellow Jackets went on a 7-0 run to lead 17-10. Virginia Wesleyan outscored RMC 5-4 to cut the lead to 21-15. However, Randolph-Macon went on to win the first set 25-16.
The Marlins started the second set with a 3-1 run, but the Yellow Jackets responded with a 7-1 run to lead 8-4. Virginia Wesleyan rallied back with an 8-2 run to take a 12-10 lead to force an RMC timeout. After the timeout, the Marlins kept up the pressure and outscored the visitors 6-4 to lead 18-14. Randolph-Macon chipped away at the Marlins lead with a 7-5 run to bring the score to 23-21, but the Marlins scored two more points to win the second set 25-22.
In the third set, Virginia Wesleyan started well again going on a 5-2 run. Over the next 12 points, each team scored six to bring the score to 11-8. However, the Marlins rallied with a 4-1 run to lead 15-9 that forced a RMC timeout. After the timeout, the Marlins outscored the Yellow Jackets 5-4 to lead 20-13, but RMC responded with a 4-1 run to cut the lead to 21-17. VWU held off the Yellow Jackets late surge to win the third set 25-20.
Randolph-Macon came out hot in the fourth set, jumping out to a 6-1 run and followed that with an 8-3 run to lead 13-4. The rest of the set, the Yellow Jackets outscored the Marlins 12-10 to force a fifth set with a 25-14 win in set four.
In the fifth set, both teams fought hard to tie the set at 3-3 early. However, Virginia Wesleyan went on a 5-3 run to lead 8-6. The Yellow Jackets fought back, going on a 5-3 run to tie the set at 11-11. Randolph-Macon kept the momentum and went on a 4-1 run to win the fifth set 15-12.
