DANVILLE, Va.- The Randolph men's volleyball team played the first of two matches on Wednesday against Averett and Bethany. The WildCats won 3-0 over the Cougars (25-13, 25-20, 25-18) and 3-0 over Bethany (WV) 25-20, 25-17, 25-22).

Against the Cougars, Mats Beentjes (Beverwijk, The Netherlands Kennemer College) led with 11 kills and 10 digs and hit .364. He also had two service aces. Conner Maher (Buckeye, Ariz./Odyssey Institute) finished with 20 assists. Ahmed Diallo (Aurora, Colo./Overland HS) had five total blocks.

In the Bethany match, the Bison scored the first two points of the first set but Randolph answered with three straight points to go ahead 3-2. The Bison briefly took the lead back but the WildCats were able to go up 7-5. After a couple of ties, the 'Cats pushed ahead 15-12. A 6-1 run by the Bison gave them an 18-16 lead. Randolph would go on a 9-2 run to pull away from Bethany and win the set 25-20.

In the second set, the WildCats never trailed while the Bison tied the frame up once at 11-11. Randolph led 18-13 and 19-14. Another run to end the set, this time 6-1, allowed the 'Cats to overtake the Bison and win 25-17.

Randolph led 10-6 in the third set before a 4-0 run allowed its lead to grow to 14-7. Bethany rallied to close its's deficit and was able to tie the set five times with the latest coming at 22-22. Two errors by the Bison and a service ace by Ethan Johnson (Oakdale, Minn./North St. Paul) gave Randolph the last three points it needed the claim the set and win the match.

Beentjes led the WildCats again in kills with nine as he hit .571 and added eight digs. Elijah Woods (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory HS) and Zachary Septoff (Cumberland, Md.) both tallied six kills with Woods chipping in a team-high nine digs. Aiden Kranz (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy HS) led in assists with 26.

Randolph travels to Roanoke on Friday for a 3:00 pm ODAC match with the Maroons. The WildCats will also rematch against the Bison at 5:00 p.m.