Yellow Jackets Finish Season with 24-7 Overall Record

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. --- The Randolph-Macon College Volleyball team saw its fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament come to an end on Saturday evening with a 3-2 loss to No. 5 Christopher Newport.

R-MC (24-7) came out firing in game one and took advantage of 11 CNU (38-2) errors to win 25-19.  The Jackets found themselves down 18-16 following a kill by the Captains' Bailey Jensen.   Riley Martin set up Courtney Lowers for a kill on the next point and sparked what proved to be a 9-1 R-MC run to end the game.

Christopher Newport connected on 15-of-37 attempts with just one error (.378) in game two en route to a 25-18 win.  CNU then took advantage of nine hitting errors by Randolph-Macon and were able to connect for nine winners of their own to take a 25-21 win in game three and go up 2-1 in the match.

With the score tied at 19-19 in game four, R-MC got an ace from Jessica Sears and a pair of kills from Lowers to take a 22-19 advantage.

The Captains battled back to tie the game at 22-22.    R-MC then led 24-23, but a Jensen kill would even the things at 24-24.

Mallory Carter put R-MC out in front 25-24 and the Jackets would close the game out on the next point to even the match at 2-2.

In the fifth and deciding game, play was tight in the early stages with CNU taking a slim 8-7 lead.   A Sears kill and a pair of hitting errors by the Captains pushed Randolph-Macon in front 10-8.

CNU was able to rally, winning seven of the final nine points to win 15-12 and the match 3-2.

Carter finished with a match-high 20 kills on 60 attempts.  The senior finishes her career with 1,422 kills which is eighth all-time in ODAC history.   Lowers recorded a career-high 17 kills on 32 chances.   Hillary Jessee added eight kills, while Tori Puryear had six.   Martin finished with 30 assists and Bailey Troia had 24 helpers.

Libero Marli Dabareiner led four Jackets in double-digit digs with 28.  Sears had 21 stops, while Carter had 13 and Troia added 10.  Puryear finished the match with three solo blocks and seven block assists.

--- This release is courtesy of the Randolph-Macon College sports information department. ---
www.rmcathletics.com