LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph men's volleyball team hosted Virginia Wesleyan in a big ODAC matchup on Saturday afternoon at Giles Gymnasium. The match went to five sets where the WildCats defeated the Marlins 3-2 (19-25, 27-25, 25-23, 17-25, 15-8).

The wins lifts Randolph's overall record to 12-7 overall and evens its ODAC record at 4-4. Virginia Wesleyan falls to 16-4 overall and 5-3 in the conference.

The Marlins led 6-2 to begin the first set. Randolph closed the score to 7-5 but VWU increased its lead to 12-5. The WildCats came back to pull to within three points at 16-13. It was 22-17 Marlins as the teams exchanged points in the end with VWU winning 25-19.

In the second set, the two teams swapped leads with Virginia Wesleyan going ahead 10-9. The WildCats used a 5-0 run to go up 14-10. The Marlins came back to go ahead 24-21 and looked to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Randolph rallied with a 6-1 run to overtake the Marlins as it won the set 27-25 to tie the match at 1-1.

The WildCats used the momentum from the second set into the third as it took a lead on the Marlins. Randolph was ahead 12-9 until Virginia Wesleyan tied the set at 12-12. A 6-1 Randolph run put the home team on top 18-13. The 'Cats were still ahead by five points at 20-15 but the Marlins used a 6-0 run to grab the lead away and go ahead 21-20. A kill by Samuel Brown (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial HS) and an attack error on the Marlins gave the lead back to Randolph 22-21. After an attack error by Brown tied the set at 22-22, an Ahmed Diallo (Aurora, Colo./Overland HS) kill and a bad set by VWU gave Randolph a 24-22 lead. Halvard Hauge's (Rolvsoy, Norway/Frederick II VGS) attack error gave a point to the Marlins but Hauge would make up for it with a kill to give Randolph a 25-23 win.

Virginia Wesleyan got out to a 12-5 lead in the fourth set. A 10-3 Randolph run tied the set at 15-15. VWU counted with a 10-2 run to win 25-17 and force a deciding frame.

The fifth set was tied at 2-2 before the WildCats' 10-1 gave them a commanding 12-3 lead. VWU closed to 13-8 but Randolph picked up the last two points to win 15-8 and take the match.

Diallo led the WildCats with 19 kills to go with nine digs and five block assists. Brown added 13 kills, nine digs, and four block assists. Ian Arce (Sneads Ferry, N.C./Dixon HS) paced the 'Cats with 43 assists to go with six digs. Samuel Looney (Fort Worth, Texas/Trinity Valley HS) led in digs with 13. Blaine Richardson (Haymarket, Va./Battlefield HS) had a season-high eight kills and nine digs.

Randolph is home again on Wednesday when it hosts Shenandoah and Bridgewater. Match times are 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.