The Oglethorpe volleyball team fell 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 16-25, 25-17) to cross-state Piedmont at Dorough Field House Wednesday evening despite several good individual efforts.

The Petrels fell behind early in the first set, the visiting Lions taking a 5-1 advantage early. Despite that, though, the Petrels quickly came back to pull to within a single point, 9-8. However, another long run by Piedmont followed as they retook control of the set, 18-12. The Petrels refused to go quietly, however, and again fought back to within one, 20-19. Piedmont finished back-to-back points to go back up three, but the Petrels then put together a 4-1 mini-run and tied the score, 23-23. However, the Lions were able to finish off the last two points of the set and win it, 25-23.

In the second set, the Petrels again fell behind 5-1 before getting into the set with a three-point run to make it 5-4. The Lions again ran off four straight points to make it 13-7. The two sides traded points for awhile, leading to a 21-17 Piedmont lead late on in the set. Oglethorpe again fought back with a little run to get within a point, 22-21. Unfortunately, Piedmont again quickly closed out the set after the run, winning 25-22.

The Petrels put everything together in the third set. They went on a huge 12-4 run to begin the stanza with a 13-5 advantage. They basically cruised to the set victory from there, as the two squads traded points for much of the rest of the time. When the Lions cut the lead to six, 20-14, the Petrels turned it back on and ran out the rest of the set, 25-16.

The fourth and final set was a difficult one for the Petrels, as they fell behind 11-6 early, then lost even more ground and found themselves behind 18-12. The Lions continued to pour it on, going up 22-14 at one point before finally finishing the set and the match off, 25-17.

The Petrels had several standout performances in the match despite the loss. Sophomore outside hitter Erin Shelton had perhaps the best match of her career, recording 17 kills and 11 digs. Meanwhile, junior outside hitter McKenna Bondarenko contributed another solid outing with 16 kills and 12 digs. Additionally, junior setter Anna Marie DiSalvo came up with 43 assists and 10 digs while junior libero Megan Makuck contributed 15 digs and junior defensive specialist Kayley Earley had 14.

The Petrels fall to 5-17 with the loss and will complete their regular season schedule in Dorough Field House when they welcome in Covenant at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. They will then battle Berry, the top seed and host of the SAA Tournament, in the quarterfinals of that event next Friday.