LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph volleyball team finally returned to its home court as it hosted cross-city rivals The University of Lynchburg on Tuesday evening. The visiting Hornets took all three sets of the match to win 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-17)

Randolph drops to 7-12 overall and 2-7 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Lynchburg evens its record at 10-10 and 6-4 in the ODAC.

The WildCats had a strong start to the first set as they had leads of 8-5 and 11-7 on the Hornets. Despite Lynchburg rallying to tie the score and eventually taking the lead, Randolph used a 6-1 run to go ahead 18-15. The Hornets countered with a 5-0 run of their own to lead 20-18 but the 'Cats responded with three straight points to go up 21-20. The Hornets, however used a 5-1 run down the stretch to take the set 25-22 and lead the match 1-0.

In the second set, Lynchburg got out ahead 5-2. Randolph rallied to tie the frame at 6-6. Trailing 12-10, the WildCats fell further behind as the Hornets went on a 7-1 run to go up 19-11. The 'Cats tried to close the gap and got to within five points at 20-15 but Lynchburg was too much as it outscored Randolph 5-2 to claim the set 25-17.

Randolph trailed 13-7 in the third set and closed at one point to 19-15. A 6-2 Hornets run gave Lynchburg the set win 25-17.

Melody Washington (Fredericksburg, Va./Chancellor) led the 'Cats with eight kills while adding eight assists, eight digs, and three block assists. Kenleigh Gunter (Troutville, Va./Lord Botetourt) put up 22 digs. Viviana Gustin (Virginia Beach, Va./Bayside) added 11 digs. Emily Barcenas (Lawrenceville, Ga./Lanier) had a team-high 13 assists while chipping in seven digs.

Randolph hosts Guilford this coming Saturday at Giles Gymnasium. Match time is at 1:00 p.m.