LYNCHBURG, VA – Randolph College took advantage of 24 attack errors by the Fighting Squirrels of Mary Baldwin College in coasting to a three-set victory Friday evening in non-conference play from the Randolph Athletic and Dance (RAD) Center.

Randolph won the match with scores of 25-20, 25-17 and 25-20 in the deciding set. With the victory, the WildCats earned their ninth win of the season which eclipses last year's win total of eight. The victory was also the WildCats third in a row, the second time this year they have had a stretch of three or more wins in a row.

In the first set, the host WildCats (9-5) opened up a quick 10-4 lead, but MBC (2-13) battled back to pull to within two at 11-9. Randolph won the next six points to pull away, with the stretch being highlighted by two aces from first-year Kerry McMichael (Westminster, SC/West Oak). First-year outside Jordan Templin (Ferrum, VA/Franklin Co.) had a set-high four kills for Randolph.

The second set was nip and tuck to start, but Mary Baldwin leading 10-9 the WildCats scored four straight points and slowly built a commanding lead. Newcomer Grayce Darden (Martinsville, VA/Martinsville) had a huge second game, finishing six of her eight attacks in the set.

Randolph would take command early in the decisive third set, leading by 8-1 at one point early in the match. MBC cut the lead to three at 15-12, but Randolph won the next five points to seal the deal. Darden posted a game-high nine kills for the WildCats, while Templin finished with eight kills and 13 digs.

First-year Lexi Harrington (Clemmons, NC/West Forsyth) chalked up 15 digs for Randolph, which had six team blocks and forced the Fighting Squirrels into a hitting percentage of -.010. McMichael had a team-leading 17 assists and three service aces.

MBC was paced by Tiffany Flesher and her eight kills, while Meagan Barron had six kills and eight digs. Candace Pettway chalked up a game-best of 22 digs, and Paige Babb had 18 assists but was called for nine ball handling errors.

The WildCats are off until Wednesday when they will travel outside of the Commonwealth to take on Guilford College at 7 p.m. in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play from Greensboro, NC.

###