LYNCHBURG, VA — The Randolph College volleyball team broke a 15-match and 15-year losing streak to Roanoke College Tuesday evening as the WildCats earned a hard fought 3-1 match victory in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action from the Randolph Athletic and Dance (RAD) Center.

The last win for the WildCats over their friends from Salem came back on October 26, 1996 in a non-conference tussle with the Maroons. The ODAC victory was the first-ever for Randolph over Roanoke as the Maroons had taken the previous 17 matches. Randolph (8-5/2-3 ODAC) won with scores of 25-21, 25-20, 25-18, and 25-21.

The first game displayed a great deal of hitting, as the Maroons and WildCats combined for 21 kills. The Maroons (3-11/1-3 ODAC) hit at a .381 clip but five aces for Randolph and four service errors for Roanoke seemed to be the difference. Shana Nelson (Columbia, MD/Wilde Lake) had four kills in the set to lead Randolph.

In the second stanza, the Wildcats again hit well and held the Maroons to just a .030 clip in the 25-20 win. An important stretch came with Roanoke leading 15-13, as Randolph put together a six-point run all coming on attack errors by Roanoke. Nelson again had four kills in the second set to lead the 'Cats.

The third set was all Roanoke as a combination of bad setting, attack errors and service receive errors doomed the WildCats. First-year Jordan Templin (Ferrum, VA/Franklin Co.) came on late in the match, as she chalked up four kills in the third set and had a team-best five kills in the fourth set.

In that fourth set, Randolph led by two at 17-15 but scored six of the next eight points to take control and with the score 24-21 Megan Wheatley (Sperryville, VA/Rappahannock Co.) posted the match-winning kill for Randolph. The win equals last year's victory total in only 13 matches and also doubles their ODAC win total from 2010.

Nelson finished with a game-high 13 kills on 24 attempts, registering a .417 attack percentage. Templin was right behind, ending the match with 12 kills on only 23 attempts while also posting 12 digs. Wheatley seemed to get a kill when Randolph needed it, as she boasted eight in the win.

First-year Lexi Harrington (Clemmons, NC/West Forsyth) had a very strong game serving with three aces to go with a game-high 14 digs, while fellow newcomer Kerry McMichael (West Oak, SC/Westminster) had a game-best 31 assists.

Randolph finished with a hitting percentage of .243 on the evening, earning nine aces and five total blocks. Kelsey Largen was responsible for a game-high 16.5 points, leading Roanoke with 11 kills, five aces and eight digs. Shannon Stone had 29 assists in the loss.

The WildCats look to continue their solid play on Friday evening as they host the Mary Baldwin College Fighting Squirrels at 7 p.m. in the RAD Center.

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