ASHLAND, VA - Season bests and solid performances occurred as the Guilford College volleyball team defeated the Randolph-Macon College Yellow Jackets, 3-1 (25-23, 26-24, 23-25, 25-15) in the Crenshaw Gymnasium on Saturday morning.
The Quakers now have a 9-11 record, 5-4 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) while the Yellow Jackets walk away with an 10-8 record, 6-4 in the ODAC.
Guilford players that created the buzz were
Vanessa Johnson (Charlotte, N.C.) who had eight kills, her season-high in a four-set match,
Chrisbel Alcantara (San Juan, P.R.) with team-high 12 kills,
Kaci Johnson (Winterville, N.C.) with 11 kills, and
Maddi Page (Jonesboro, Ga.) with the game-high in assists with 37.
As for Randolph-Macon, the standout players were Kylie Wilhelmi with game-high 24 kills alongside 12 digs, Trinity Makley had team-high 34 assists, and Maddy DeCandido with 20 digs paired with six assists.
It was a back-and-forth battle towards the beginning of set one thanks to kills from
Natalie Moore (Talbott, Tenn.) and Page.
Vivian Cavataio (Mechanicsburg, Pa.), who finished with seven digs, added her first of three aces before Alcantara delivered a kill to make it 10-9, in favor of the Yellow Jackets. A 7-1 run was made by RMC thanks to kills from Wilhelmi and a handful of aces and attacking errors. Moore, Kaci and
Vanessa Johnson, along with Page, worked hard to close the gap, but Randolph-Macon capitalized on Guilford's mistakes to their advantage. Although RMC briefly halted GC's momentum,
Vanessa Johnson responded with two consecutive kills, supported by Alcantara and Moore, helping the team reclaim the lead with a 10-3 run. The Quakers emerged victorious in the first set with a 25-23 win.
The teams traded points at the start of set two with only
Kaci Johnson, assisted by Page, earning kills for Guilford as the other points originated from Randolph-Macon's blunders to make it 10-8. Within that sequence, there were two nasty blocks from Moore and
Madison Duvall (Sophia, N.C.) alongside Johnson & Johnson. Moore earned her season-best in blocks with five and was the team's second-highest in blocks behind
Vanessa Johnson at six. Duvall had a solid game with 7.0 points, four blocks, five kills, with a .400 clip. After the Yellow Jackets were blocked, the score moved to 9-7. RMC responded with four straight points before Alcantara and Duvall reignited the Quaker offense. Despite a run led by Wilhelmi, the Quakers rallied with aces from
Vivian Cavataio (Mechanicsburg, Pa.), kills from Kaci and
Vanessa Johnson, and contributions from Duvall, Alcantara, and
Madison Bozarth (Greensboro, N.C.). The Quakers claimed set two with a 26-24 victory.
Set three was a battle from start to finish. The Yellow Jackets had something a little extra to fight for as it was their Senior Day. There were attempts to keep the momentum going for the Quakers due to kills from Duvall,
Kaci Johnson, Moore, and
Vanessa Johnson, but Randolph-Macon extended their lead, 16-9. After some attacking errors from RMC and an
Amber Chiarolanzio (Deep Gap, N.C.) ace, it gave GC that edge to make the point deficit to one. This was possible due to Duvall, Moore, Alcantara, and
Kaci Johnson. Moore and Alcantara added points to the board before Wilhelmi and Randolph-Macon escaped with the set win of 25-23.
In the final set, the power belonged to the Quakers. They were able to extend the lead to 18-9 due to points from
Kaci Johnson, with four kills in this set, three kills from Alcantara, a kill from Duvall, two back-to-back ace opportunities from Moore, and a monster block from Alcantara and
Vanessa Johnson.
Zoe Whisnant (Greensboro, N.C.) also added fuel to the fire with an ace and a dozen digs. Wilhelmi tried to rally the Yellow Jackets with her four kills in the set, but two uninterrupted Moore kills and an attacking error shut down Randolph-Macon in the set win at 25-15. The Quakers dish out a gentleman's sweep to make the final score 3-1.
Guilford's next contest is set for Saturday, October 26th at 2 PM as they face the Fighting Squirrels of Mary Baldwin University in a Tri-Match hosted by Pfeiffer University.
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