The University of Mary Washington volleyball team fell to Randolph-Macon College, 3-2, on Wednesday evening in Ron Rosner Arena. The Eagles slip to 1-3 on the season.
The Eagles started the first set out with by going up 9-4. Kendall Hall recorded a service ace in the early going and then Maya Takashima had two service aces to cap the run. The Yellow Jackets cut the lead to four, 12-8, but a kill by Lexie Hendrickson put UMW back up five. RMC worked their way back into the set to go down just one, 15-14. Olivia Casey had two straight kills to put UMW up two, 17-15. The race to get to the 20 point mark was won by UMW as Peyton Dunow put away a kill to keep UMW up two, 20-18. The two teams traded points until the end, but the Eagles took set one on a kill by Casey and then an error by the Yellow Jackets.
In the second set, RMC got out to a fast start as they went up 9-5. They then extended their lead to seven, 15-8. After an error by the Yellow Jackets, Ellie Benning went on a two point run to get the Eagles back into the set and put them down just four, 15-11. UMW hung around and stayed within four points until RMC went up 21-15. Casey and Powers recorded back-to-back kills to get back to within four, 21-17. UMW cut the RMC lead to two, 23-21, as Savannah Powers put a ball away. Dunow tied the set up at 23 a piece on a kill from Wren Berry. RMC then recorded two straight kills to take the second set and even the match at 1-1.
The two teams traded points in the early going. The Eagles then took an 8-4 lead as Casey recorded a kill and then RMC recorded two errors. The Yellow Jackets worked their way back into the set and took a 10-9 advantage. UMW then took back the lead and stretched it out to five, 16-11. In that run, both Berry and Dunow recorded a service ace. With the score 17-14 in favor of UMW, Casey and Powers recorded back-to-back kills to push the lead to five. RMC again did not give up and cut the UMW lead to just one, 22-21. The Eagles closed the set out from there as Dunow and Krista Rodgers both recorded a kill and then Dunow had a service ace to end it.
The Yellow Jackets took an early 6-4 lead in the fourth set. From there, UMW scored four straight points with Powers serving to take an 8-6 advantage. After RMC tied the game at eight a piece, the two teams traded points until RMC took a 14-12 lead. With the score 21-19 in favor of RMC, the Eagles reeled off four straight points to take a 23-21 lead with Kendal Hall serving. UMW was unable to keep that lead and finish the set as RMC went on to win the fourth set 25-23.
In the fifth and final set, the Yellow Jackets got out to a 4-0 lead. They then stretched their lead out to 8-1 before UMW rattled off three straight points. RMC then took advantage of their early lead and closed UMW out with a 15-6 win in the fifth set.
UMW was led by Casey who had 19 kills. Dunow added 14 and Powers tacked on 12 kills. Berry dished out 39 assists and Hall had 27 digs for the Eagles.
The Eagles will be back in action on Tuesday as they will travel to McDaniel for a match at 6 p.m.