GROVE CITY, Pa.- The Randolph men's volleyball team concluded its time in Pennsylvania on Saturday as the WildCats played a pair of matches at Grove City. The 'Cats defeated Mount Aloysius 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-17) in the first match and fell in five sets to the University of Olivet (25-17, 10-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-11)
Against the Mounties, Randolph got out ahead 5-3 in the first set before Mt. Aloysius rallied to take a 6-5 lead. The two teams exchanged leads before the WildCats pulled away to go up 11-9. With the Mounties leading 13-12, the WildCats went on a 9-1 run to go up 21-14. Mt. Aloysius could get no closer than within six points as Randolph claimed the set.
The Mounties took the first point of the second set but the WildCats went on a 9-1 run to lead 9-2. With the score standing at 17-13 in Randolph's favor, the 'Cats rattled off a 5-0 run to expand their lead to 22-13 on their way to a 25-17 set win.
The third set saw the WildCats lead 9-2. Their lead grew to 17-8 but the Mounties rallied to make the score 18-13. It was still a five-point set at 20-15 but the WildCats were able to finish off the Mounties with a 5-2 run to win the set.
Ahmed Diallo (Aurora, Colo./Overland HS) led with 10 kills and hit .750. Samuel Looney (Fort Worth, Texas/Trinity Valley HS) led with 10 digs. Conner Maher (Buckeye, Ariz./Odyssey Institute) totaled 30 assists.
Against Olivet, Randolph led 5-2 early in the first set and saw its lead grow to 14-6. The Comets were not a threat to the WildCat lead as the 'Cats won 25-17.
Randolph led 3-1 in the second set before Olivet took the lead away and was ahead 4-3. The lead swung back in Randolph's favor at 6-4. The Comets finished out the rest of the set with a 23-2 run to win by a commanding score of 25-10.
The WildCats led 6-3 in the third set. Olivet came back to take an 18-17 lead. Randolph then laid down four straight kills to go up 21-18 which was part of an 8-3 run that saw the 'Cats win 25-21.
After trailing 2-0 in the fourth frame, Randolph recovered to go ahead 12-7. A 13-4 Olivet run, however, gave the Comets a 20-16 lead. The WildCats closed to within a point at 24-23 but Payton Hastings' kill gave the Comets a 25-23 set win.
The fifth set saw the set tied at 3-3. Olivet went on a 7-1 run to take a commanding 10-4 lead. Trailing 14-7, Randolph rallied with four straight points to make it 14-11. Hastings closed the door again for Olivet as his kill gave the Comets the winning point.
Diallo led in kills with 16 and in digs with 12. Shamel Smith (Tamarac, Fla.) finished with 11 kills. Zachary Septoff (Cumberland, Md.) had eight kills and four block assists. Maher totaled 36 assists.
Randolph next travels to Southern Virginia on Tuesday evening. Match time is at 7:00 p.m. The WildCats hope to avenge a 3-0 loss to the Knights back on January 17.
