HARRISONBURG, Va.- The Randolph women's volleyball team played a pair of matches on Saturday facing host Eastern Mennonite and St. Mary's College of Maryland. The WildCats and Royals went to five sets where the 'Cats were able to come away with a hard fought 3-2 (24-26, 25-15, 25-10, 21-25, 15-11) win.
Randolph improves to 9-6 overall and 2-2 in ODAC play. The win over EMU is the first for the WildCats over the Royals since 2018 and ends a five-match winless streak to them.
Eastern Mennonite led early in the first set and as late as 19-15. A 5-0 run by Randolph gave it a 20-19 advantage. The two teams would exchange points with the score tied at 24-24. The Royals received back-to-back kills by Mara Woolford to push ahead and win 26-24.
Trailing 3-2 in the second set, the WildCats went on an 11-4 run to go up 13-7. With the score at 13-9, the 'Cats rattled off a 12-6 run to break away from the Royals and win the frame 25-15.
Randolph had control of the third set as it led at one point 20-7. EMU never was a threat as the WildCats ended the set scoring four straight points to win 25-10 and go ahead 2-1 in the match.
The WildCats again had a lead in the fourth frame as they looked to close out the Royals. Eastern Mennonite, however, would not go away quietly when trailing 19-16, it went on a 9-2 run to overtake the WildCats and force a deciding fifth set.
Randolph had leads of 8-5 and 10-7 in the second set. EMU tied twice but the WildCats staved off a Royals comeback effort as it laid down four straight points to win 15-11.
Jillian Warter (Leesburg, Va./Loudon County HS) led the offensive effort with 18 kills and hit .317. Tahani Villines (Whittset, N.C./Williams) added 10 kills and a team-high 14 digs. Brooke Murdock (Evington, Va./Timberlake Christian) chipped in nine kills on a .368 hitting percentage to go with five block assists and four digs. Kailee Turner (Virginia Beach, Va./Kempsville) led in assists with 19 and Jayda Domenech (Virginia Beach, Va./Kempsville) had a double-double performance of 17 assists and 12 digs. Mackenzie Woodson (Norfolk, Va./Norfolk Collegiate) totaled six blocks and 13 digs. McKayla Padgett (Amherst, Va./Amherst County HS) had 10 digs.
Randolph lost to St. Mary's 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 13-25, 25-19) in the second match. Against the Seahawks, Randolph led 11-8 in the first set. A 6-0 St. Mary's run gave it a 14-11 advantage although the WildCats came back to tie. While the Seahawks pushed ahead, the 'Cats came within a point of tying but ultimately fell short in the end as St. Mary's took the set 25-23.
The WildCats tallied the first three points of the second set and St. Mary's matched them point for point to tie at 3-3. Randolph took a 7-3 lead and never trailed for the remainder of the set. With the score knotted at 17-17, the WildCats went on an 8-4 run to pull away and win 25-21.
The fourth set saw the Seahawks go ahead early and slowly build up their lead. St. Mary's reached a double-digit advantage at 20-10 on its way to a 25-13 win.
The Seahawks led as 13-2 and then 19-11 in the fourth set. A 6-0 run by the WildCats closed the score to 19-17. The rally fell short in the end as St. Mary's closed out Randolph with a 6-2 run to win the set and the match.
Murdock led the team with 11 kills to go with three block assists. Woodson added 10 kills and seven digs. Domenech had another double-double digit effort of 16 assists and 11 digs. Turner finished with 12 assists. Padgett led in digs with 18.
Randolph travels to Christopher Newport on Wednesday. Match time from Newport News will be at 6:00 p.m.
