Winston-Salem, N,C.- The Randolph women's volleyball team split a pair of matches on Friday night. The WildCats dropped a 3-0 decision to North Carolina Wesleyan and then defeated host Piedmont International 3-1.
Match 1: North Carolina Wesleyan 3 Randolph 0
The Bishops took the opening set 25-22. NC Wesleyan had a commanding 22-13 lead but the Wildcats rallied to narrow the score to 24-22. The Bishops won on a kill by Bijou Patel.
Randolph trailed in the second set 22-18 before the Bishops tallied the last three points to win 25-18. North Carolina Wesleyan easily won the third set 25-14.
Mackenzie Ambrose (Floyd, Va./Floyd County) led in kills with seven. Taylor Webb (Nassawadox, Va./Northampton) had 17 assists. Sam Verhaagen (Virginia Beach, Va./Norfolk Christian) picked up 16 digs. Audrey Antesberger (Scottsville, Va./St.Anne's Belfield) had six blocks
Match 2: Randolph 3 Piedmont International 1
The WildCats built up a 17-12 lead but the Bruins came back to tie the set up at 18-18. Following a Randolph timeout, the 'Cats ripped off a 7-1 run to take the frame 25-19.
The Bruins got out to a 7-2 advantage in the second set and led by as much as 12-7. Randolph rallied to lead 15-14. The two teams would trade off points until PIU went ahead 23-18. The WildCats closed to within three points but the Bruins claimed the set 25-21.
The third set was tied at 14-14. The WildCats led 21-20 until the Bruins put down a pair of kills by Olivia Bullard to go up 22-21. A service error by the Bruins followed by a service ace by Lauren Morgan (Bedford, Va./Liberty) and an attack error on PIU gave the WildCats a 24-22 lead. The 'Cats would go on to win 25-23.
The Bruins took a 6-4 lead in the fourth set but the WildCats came back to tie at 6-6. The two squads traded off points until the Bruins established a 19-14 lead. The Bruins clung to a 21-19 lead but Randolph tied up the set at 21-21. The frame stood at 24-24 and points were again traded off when down 26-25, the WildCats went on a 3-0 run to take the set 28-26 and the match.
Ambrose led again in kills with 13 while Logan Warren (Chesterfield, Va./Steward School) added 11. Webb picked up 37 assists Verhaagen tallied 27 digs with Webb adding 18, Ambrose 14, and Lindsey Taylor (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) 11. Antesberger had four blocks.
Randolph plays Mary Baldwin in its next match on Wednesday. Start time will be at 7:00 p.m.