SALEM, Va.- The Randolph women's volleyball team began the first day of competition at the Maroon Classic hosted by Roanoke College on Friday. The WildCats fell 3-0 (11-25, 12-25, 18-25) to Salem in the afternoon and dropped a 3-1 (29-27, 22-25, 17-25, 20-25) decision to Methodist in the evening match.
Against the Spirit, the WildCats led 5-4 in the first set. The Spirit used a 12-2 run to break the set open and led 16-7 on their way to a 25-11 win.
Salem had another big lead in the second set. It was 17-11 Randolph until Salem went on an 8-1 run down the stretch to claim the second set.
Randolph led 4-2 early in the third frame. While Salem answered back, the WildCats came back to lead by one and led at one point 12-10. The set was evened up at 15-15 but Salem scored three straight times to go ahead 18-15. The WildCats closed to within one at 18-17 but the Spirit closed out Randolph with a 7-1 run to win 25-18 and take the match.
Jill Warter (Leesburg, Va./Loudon County) led in kills with seven. Tahani Villines (Whitsett, N.C./Williams) and Abby Maldonado (High Point, N.C./Penn-Griffin SOTA) both contributed nine digs each. Kailee Turner (Virginia Beach, Va./Kempsville) finished with nine assists.
In the Methodist match, Randolph trailed 18-12 in the first set. The WildCats went on a 7-1 run to knot the frame at 19-19. The Monarchs countered with a 4-0 run to go ahead 23-19. A 5-1 WildCat run tied the set at 24-all. After Methodist led 27-26, the 'Cats pulled away with three straight points which ended with a kill by Cassie Witt (Goode, Va./Jefferson Forest) to clinch the set win.
In the second set, Randolph led early on 7-4. The set was back and forth until Methodist put up four points to break a 15-15 deadlock and lead 19-15. The WildCats closed to within two points at 24-22 but the Monarchs got the last they needed to take the frame 25-22.
The WildCats got out quickly in the third set as they led 3-0. Methodist tied it up 3-3 and the set would eventually be tied at 7-7. Methodist used a 4-1 run to go ahead 11-8. The two teams traded off points as the Monarchs steadily increased their lead to 22-15 and eventually won 25-17.
Methodist jumped ahead 5-0 in the fourth set and led at one point 10-4. The WildCats closed their deficit down to three points at 16-13. Randolph still trailed by three, 20-17. Methodist edged our Randolph 5-3 to win the frame 25-20.
Warter led with 11 kills to go with 11 digs. Villines and Brooke Murdock (Evington, Va./Timberlake Christian) both added 10 kills each and Villines led the team in digs with 15. Murdock had six block assists and one solo block. McKayla Padgett (Amherst, Va./Amherst County HS) contributed 12 digs. Turner had a double-double performance of 16 assists and 10 digs. Jayda Domenech (Virginia Beach, Va./Kempsville) also had a double-double with a team-high 19 assists to go with 11 digs. Mackenzie Woodson (Norfolk, Va./Norfolk Collegiate) finished with five block assists, five kills, and two digs in the match.
Randolph goes up against Greensboro tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. and N.C. Wesleyan at 4:00 p.m.
