Kaci Johnson Sets Season-High in Kills, Volleyball Falls to Catholic and William Peace in Five Sets
Johnson and Alcantara tied for first in kills during defeat in doubleheader matches

 
RALEIGH, N.C. - Kaci Johnson (Winterville, N.C.) had a standout morning on day two of the Raleigh Invitational, that came to a close as the Guilford College volleyball team was dismissed by Catholic University, 3-2 (25-22, 25-19, 17-25, 15-25, 13-15) in the early contest before taking a loss against William Peace University, 3-2 (25-23, 20-25, 27-25, 19-25, 12-15), at the Hermann Athletic Center on Saturday morning.
 
The Quakers exited the Raleigh Invite with a 3-5 season record, while Catholic finished with a 2-5 mark, and William Peace now holds a 4-3 record.
 
In the match against Catholic, Guilford's standout players were Natalie Moore (Talbott, Tenn.), who led the team with a dozen kills and tied for the team-high with 21 digs, Chrisbel Alcantara (San Juan, P.R.) with 11 kills, and Maddi Page (Jonesboro, Ga.) who recorded game-high 35 assists.
 
For Catholic, the standout performers who contributed to the Cardinals' victory included Tanya Sichling, who matched the game-high with 12 kills and added 18 digs, Julia Raab with ten kills, and Gabby Hernandez-Ferraiuoli, who led the match with 29 digs.
 
Game two leaders for Guilford were Johnson who finished with 20 kills, Page handed out 45 assists, and Madison Bozarth (Greensboro, N.C.) collected a game-high 23 digs for the Quakers. Moore walked away with her second double-double of the day with ten kills and 13 digs.
 
William Peace prospects included Chassie Jacops with team-high 13 kills, Maegan Brylski with a game-high 47 assists, and Katie Arens totaled 20 digs for the day.
 
GAME ONE
Attacking errors and kills came from Vanessa Johnson (Charlotte, N.C.), who ended the early contest with 11 kills, tied for second-most on the team, and Moore got Guilford going in set one. A 6-0 run from GC extended the score to 10-7. As the momentum swung back and forth, the Quakers went on a run, leaving the Cardinals scoreless for five-consecutive points, pushing the score to 17-10. Ava Borcky, Lily Godbold, Hernandez-Ferraiuoli, and Sichling all had part in Catholic coming back to make it 23-22. Moore and Alcantara came through with timely kills that just pushed Guilford over the edge to clinch their victory in set one, 25-22.
 
The second set kicked off by the Quakers playing catch-up as the Cardinals expanded the lead to 7-1. Moore, along with Marie Hall (High Point, N.C.), who recorded three of her five kills in this set, a kill by Zoe Whisnant (Greensboro, N.C.), who ended the game with six kills, and half-a-dozen more kills from Johnson, ignited some confidence as Guilford went on a 7-0 run. Although a kill from Anna Maria Carella tried to keep Catholic alive, the Quakers edged out the Cardinals in a final set score of 25-19.
 
The Cardinals dominated set three, showing no signs of slowing down as they went on a 10-1 run against Guilford. Four kills were made by Whisnant to keep GC within striking distance momentarily, with the help of Moore, Hall, and Kaci Johnson. A few attacking errors by Catholic briefly sparked a 3-0 run for Guilford near the end of the set, but they ultimately fell 25-17.
 
Set four was once again controlled by Catholic, as they went on two near-unstoppable scoring runs. Despite efforts from Alcantara, Moore, Hall, and Kaci Johnson, the Quakers could not overcome Catholic's dominant 8-0 and 6-1 runs. The final set score was 25-15.
 
In the final set of game one, Sichling, Godbold, and attack errors helped the Cardinals jump on the board early. Nevertheless, Guilford fought hard to build a 5-1 scoring run thanks to Alcantara kills and Catholic errors. Numbers wise, GC ended the match with 30 total errors vs. the Cardinals' 20. Even though the Quakers finished with 51 kills to the Cardinals' 47, Catholic's hitting percentage totaled to be .155 in comparison to Guilford's .114 as GC ultimately fell, 3-2..
 
GAME TWO
Within the close battle between the Peace Pacers and the Quakers in set one, four of the six points came from Kaci Johnson. William Peace started to pull away thanks to kills from Tameka Adams, Brylski, and Jordyn Chinigo. Guilford had a successful run of 6-0, and GC had an additional run of 5-0. Moore, who had 14.5 points, Kaci and Vanessa Johnson, Hall, and Alcantara all contributed to this set win with a score of 25-23.
 
One of the keys for set two was that William Peace had three different runs of four-straight points against Guilford. Whether it was a service ace or kill from Jordan Juanes, Jacops, or Savannah Hairr, WPU found a way to temporarily shut down GC. Kaci Johnson, who achieved a season-high of 22.5 points pairing with a .421 hitting percentage, along with Moore and Whisnant, made efforts to slow down the Peace Pacers. However, William Peace ultimately took the final set with a 25-20 victory.
 
In set three, Hall, Whisnant, Alcantara, and Johnson displayed toughness, tying the score at 16. Despite the 6-1 run WPU presented GC, the Quakers answered with a run of their own to take the lead 23-22. Within this stretch, three of these points came from Moore. Johnson finished the set with a kill, assisted by Page, bringing the final score to 27-25.
 
Set four had standout kills from Sarah Yates, Juanes, and Anderson who had five of her nine kills in this set alone. Kills from Vanessa and Kaci Johnson, Moore, Whisnant, and Alcantara could not slow down William Peace, resulting in a score of 20-8. In a Guilford group effort, the team made it into a five-point deficit. WPU finished the set with a score of 25-19.
 
During the fifth set, five kills came from Johnson while Alcantara added two of her own. Yates, Jacops, and Chinigo pitched in to seal the deal. In the final set of the Raleigh Invitational, the Quakers were upended by the Peace Pacers in a set score of 15-12, and a final score 3-2.
 
Next up for Guilford will venture across town to clash with rival Greensboro College on Wednesday, Sept. 11th  at 7 p.m.
 
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