For immediate release – 10/28/2015 - #096
'Cats Comeback Again and Make ODACs in Five-Set Thriller

LYNCHBURG, VA – The Randolph College volleyball team needed to win its last three matches to make the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament, and in all three matches, the WildCats started off on the losing side.  However, the 'Cats turned the 0-2 deficit around once again, and defeated crosstown rivals Lynchburg College in five sets, 17-25, 13-25, 25-23, 25-17, and 17-15.  It was also the first win for the WildCats over LC since 1997.

The Hornets jumped out to an early lead in the first set, before Randolph answered to tie the score at 3-3.  Following another tie at 5-5, LC went on a run to push its advantage to four.  Lynchburg would allow it to get no closer than two over the remainder of the set, before going up 1-0.  The second saw the Hornets use the momentum from the first, and take a commanding 8-0 lead, which would only be pushed further throughout the set until Lynchburg took a two-set lead.

However, this was the second time in as many matches that Randolph found itself down 0-2 (Guilford was 0-1), and the team responded with a lot of fight.  The WildCats took a 3-2 lead after a home error, but LC answered with five of the next six to take a three-point advantage.  The teams traded points as Rebecca Lesnak recorded a kill and Jasmine Tapscott blocked an opposing attack, but once again Lynchburg went on a small run, with three of the next four, putting the score at 12-7.  The 'Cats came back with four of five, as Noelle Wojciechowski and Alex Mariona finished passes from Brooks Gillerlain.  Lynchburg once again opened up the lead to 17-12, but Randolph refused to quit as Mariona had two aces and a kill, bringing them within one.  LC pushed the lead out again to three.  But the WildCats came back and scored the last four points.  Wojciechowski and Lesnak each had a kill.  Abby Bane recorded an ace, and it was finished off by a combined block from Mariona and Wojciechowski.

The momentum carried over into the fourth as Randolph took an early 8-3 lead.  Lesnak, Wojciechowski, and Mariona all had kills.  LC took four of the next five to bring the lead to two, but the 'Cats answered with their largest run of the night.  Following a Hornet error, the WildCats picked up six of seven, with Gillerlain serving an ace, a kill each by Wojciechowski and Mariona, and then another Mariona/Wojciechowski block.  Lynchburg scored four of five to cut the deficit to five, but Randolph came right back.  Lesnak picked up another kill to start a three-in-a-row run, ended with another ace by Mariona.  The Hornets made it interesting cutting the disadvantage to 22-17, but the Hornets had two ball handling errors surrounding another Mariona slam as Randolph evened out the match.

Once again, Randolph carried over the momentum from the previous set.  Mariona opened it with a kill, and it was followed by an Autumn Troxell slam.  After an LC point, the 'Cats scored six of the next eight, as it once again featured a kill each by Mariona and Wojciechowski, and another block by the two.  But Lynchburg grabbed the momentum with seven of the next eight, taking a 10-9 advantage.  Tapscott killed the next Gillerlain pass, and Katie Brown served an ace to give Randolph the lead once more.  The teams traded points until a kill by Hornet Jennifer Garrett gave LC match point.  With the season on the line, Wojciechowski slammed home a pass from Gillerlain.  The teams then exchanged errors, giving the WildCats the serve.  Randolph forced the Lynchburg into two more errors, taking the match.

Wojciechowski and Lesnak picked up 10 kills apiece, as Wojciechowski hit .455 with no errors.  Gillerlain took over the primary setter duties, and assisted on 28 kills during the match.  On the defensive side, Brown had 11 digs after coming in as libero, and the team finished with 12 block assists (six by Wojciechowski and five by Mariona).  Wojciechowski moved into fifth place on the all-time blocks list at Randolph College with her performance.

Garrett had a match-high 19 kills for the Hornets (8-15 overall, 4-7 ODAC).  Sam Page scooped up a match-high 16 digs in the loss.

Randolph (8-19, 4-7) moved into a three-way tie for seventh in the ODAC.  The preliminary seedings have the WildCats in seventh after the win on Wednesday night, however the final tournament bracket will be released at a later date.

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