ASHLAND, Va. --- The Lynchburg College volleyball team advanced to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) championship game after defeating top-seed Randolph-Macon College early Saturday.  LC won 25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 25-23 in a very close match, and it gave the team its highest win total since 1981.

Lynchburg took the first set in a close one, 25-21.  Both teams went back and forth, with the Yellow Jackets taking the early lead.  The Hornets would get the lead back off a kill by Marion Lozano and they would not look back.  Fittingly, Lozano would finish the set with the final two kills.

LC won the second set in close fashion as well, with a score of 25-22.  The Hornets jumped out quickly, reaching a six-point lead.  However, R-MC erased the deficit, tying the game at 15.  Rebecca Loftis registered the next kill, and the Hornets did not look back in the set.

R-MC scrapped together a win in the third set, closing it out with a score of 25-21.  The Yellow Jackets had a sizeable lead, but the Hornets fought back.  LC closed the gap to 23-21 off of a kill by Sierra Strathy, but Randolph-Macon would get the next two points to keep its hopes alive.

In the fourth, Lynchburg ended the potential run for Randolph-Macon in the closest set of the match.  There were 13 ties in during the set, including a late one at 22 all.  Aricquel Payne and Lozano each registered kills in two of the next four points to book a place in the finals for the Hornets.

Hilary Jessee led the Yellow Jackets (23-6) with 15 kills.  Loftis led the Hornets with a .522 hitting percentage on 14 kills.  Payne (16), Lozano (12), and Brittany Crawford (10) all finished in double-digits as well in kills.  Brooke Moughon and Rachel Turk each had 26 assists throughout the match.

With the win, Lynchburg (24-9) advances to the ODAC title game at 3:30 p.m. this Saturday.  The Hornets will face Washington and Lee University in their first championship appearance since 2008.

This release is courtesy of the Lynchburg College sports information department.
http://athletics.lynchburg.edu/landing/index