SALEM, Va.- The Randolph Women's Volleyball team completed the second day of competition at the Maroon Classic on Saturday. The WildCats secured their first win of the season as they defeated Brevard 3-0 in their second match of the day. Randolph lost their first match to Methodist 3-0.
Brevard started off 5-1 in the first set. Randolph began to catch up as they pulled ahead to a 19-12 lead. The Tornadoes clawed their way back to get to within one point at 21-20. Randolph outscored Brevard 4-1 with kills by Kelsey Bowler (Fredericksburg, Va./Massaponax), Jamie Galinis (Greensville, N.C/DH Conley), and Brooklyn Finnerty (Lynchburg, Va./Timberlake).
The Tornadoes got out ahead 7-4 in the second set. Randolph briefly took the lead at 9-8 before Brevard grabbed the lead back. Up 13-10, the WildCats embarked on a 7-1 run to wrestle the lead away from the Tornadoes and go ahead 17-14. Brevard's 4-0 run gave it an 18-17 advantage but Randolph's 8-0 game-changing run put the Tornadoes away as the WildCats won 25-18.
Randolph led for most of third set. With a 13-8 lead, the Tornadoes used a 13-3 run to go on top 21-16. The Wildcats' 9-2 run did Brevard in ending with kills by Galinis and Finnerty to secure the victory.
Galinis finished with a career-best 17 kills and hit .414 in the match. Bowler added 10 kills and five digs. Kailee Turner (Virginia Beach, Va./Kempsville) totaled 31 assists. Caroline Towle (Warrenton, Va./Fauquier) led in digs with 11.
In the first set against Methodist, the WildCats fell behind 5-1 and 9-4. Randolph then went on a 6-2 run to make it an 11-10 score. The Monarchs pulled away and were up by as much as eight points at 23-15. The 'Cats used a big 8-1 run to close to within a point of tying the match at 24-23 but a service error on Towle gave Methodist the final point it needed to win 25-23.
Randolph led 12-9 in the second set. Methodist's 10-3 run gave it a 19-15 advantage. The WildCats came back to pull to within a point at 21-20 but the Monarchs closed out the set on a 4-0 run to win 25-20.
Methodist started the third on a 4-0 run. Randolph closed to within two points at 12-10. While the Monarchs added to their lead, the WildCats kept them at arm's length but could not reduced its three-point deficit as Methodist won 25-19 to take the match.
Bowler had nine kills to lead the team and Galinis added eight. Turner led in assists with 19. McKayla Padgett (Amherst, Va./Amherst County) totaled 11 digs with Towle chipping in 10.
Randolph begins ODAC play on Wednesday when they travel to Randolph-Macon. The match from Ashland begins at 6:00 p.m.
