The Virginia Wesleyan University men's volleyball team (12-3, 3-2 ODAC) split in the RMC tri-match with a loss to Randolph-Macon and a 3-1 win against Stevenson.
Game One:
JaMarhe Wills led the offense with 12 kills, with one service ace, seven digs, and one solo block.
Carlyle Campbell had six kills, with a .400 hitting percentage, two block assists, and one dig.
Grant Younie had five kills, four digs, one assist, and two block assists.
A close first set saw the teams tied at 4-4 early, until RMC went on a 3-0 run to take a 7-4 lead. The Marlins countered with a 4-1 run to tie the set at 10-10. However, the Yellow Jackets responded with a 4-1 run to retake the lead at 14-11, but VWU countered with a big 5-1 run to lead 17-16. Randolph-Macon went on to outscore the Marlins 9-3 to win set one 25-20.
RMC started the second set well, jumping out to a 7-4 lead, but the Marlins responded with a 2-0 run to cut the lead to 7-6. However, the Yellow Jackets rallied, going on a 6-2 run to increase their lead to 13-8, but VWU responded with a 3-0 run to cut the lead to 13-11. Randolph-Macon responded, outscoring the Marlins 10-5 to hold a 23-16 lead. Virginia Wesleyan went on a 3-1 run at the end to bring the score to 24-19, but the host won set two 25-19.
In the third set, the Yellow Jackets started hot, building a 14-6 lead early. The two teams traded points, until the host went on a 4-0 run to lead 20-10. The Marlins outscored Randolph-Macon 8-5, but RMC went on to win the set 25-18.
Game Two:
Grant Younie tallied 12 kills, three service aces, nine digs, one assist, and one block assist.
Siah Hall had 13 kills with a .526 hitting percentage, two assists, one service ace, and eight digs.
JaMarhe Wills had 10 kills, three assists, one service ace, one block assist, and eight digs.
The Marlins started off hot, building a 9-3 lead to start the match. The two teams traded points with the Marlins holding a steady lead until Stevenson went on a 4-1 run to cut the lead to 15-11, but the Marlins countered with a 4-1 run to extend their lead to 19-12. Stevenson rallied with a 4-1 run to bring the score to 20-16, but VWU responded with a 3-0 run to lead 23-16 and went on to win the set 25-19.
Stevenson jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second set, but VWU countered with a 4-1 run to cut the lead to 5-4. The two teams traded points to bring the score to 13-12, until the Mustangs went on an 8-2 run to lead 21-14. The Marlins chipped away at the lead, outscoring the Mustangs 8-3, but Stevenson went on to win the set 25-23.
In the third set, the Marlins jumped out to an early 12-8 lead, and Stevenson responded with a 4-0 run to tie the set at 12-12. The two teams traded points until the Marlins rallied with a 5-0 run to take a 21-15 lead. Each team scored four points the rest of the set to give the Marlins the 25-19 third set win.
The Mustangs jumped out in the fourth set to a 7-3 lead, but the Marlins rallied with a 7-2 run to lead 10-9. Stevenson responded with a 4-2 run, but Virginia Wesleyan went on a 5-0 run to take a 17-13 lead. Stevenson was unable to string together a rally and went on to win the set 25-19.
