The Oglethorpe volleyball team moved to 12-10 on the season Friday afternoon, 1-5 in SAA play, after splitting a tri-match in Conway, Ark., against hosts Hendrix and non-conference opponent Rust. The Petrels lost to Hendrix, 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-21), then turned around and beat Rust by the same 3-0 scoreline (25-11, 25-13, 25-13).

The afternoon started with a hard-fought match against Hendrix that nonetheless ended in a 3-0 defeat. The Stormy Petrels won at least 21 points in all three sets, but were unable to pick up a victory in any of them. Freshman middle blocker Kaitlyn Woodruff led the team with nine kills, hitting .421 in the process, while freshman setter Katie Stewart accrued 19 assists. Senior libero Megan Makuck and senior outside hitter Anna Marie DiSalvo tied for the team lead with 10 digs. Senior middle blocker Lisa Inglis and Woodruff each had four block assists.

In the first set, the Petrels went ahead 3-0, but that was followed by a 5-1 Warriors run. Hendrix followed that up with another run of four straight points and took a 10-7 lead. Oglethorpe answered with a 4-0 run of their own to retake the lead, 16-14. Another four-point mini-run by Hendrix put them back up by two, however, 19-17. Oglethorpe took the lead back, 22-21, but Hendrix ran off three straight points to take a 24-22 lead, getting a set point. The Petrels fought off one set point but couldn't hold them off anymore after that. Hendrix won the set, 25-23.

In the second set, Hendrix continued what they'd started in the first, going on an 11-3 run to begin the stanza. Oglethorpe began a run of their own, cutting the deficit to 16-11, and then went on a big spurt that got them right back into the thick of the set. They ran off six straight points to get back to within two, 20-18. However, Hendrix was able to stem the tide and put the set away, 25-21, to take a 2-0 lead.

Hendrix went ahead big early in the third set, as well. They took a 9-2 advantage before Oglethorpe fought back to pull to within four, 12-8. However, a big Warriors spurt all but put the match away, as the home side embarked on a 7-2 run to take a 21-12 lead. Oglethorpe won three straight to get it back to a six-point game, 22-16, but Hendrix would cruise to the victory from there, taking the final set, 25-21.

However, the Petrels immediately came back and blanked Rust, 3-0. Senior outside hitter McKenna Bondarenko led the team with 16 kills for the match while hitting .615. Freshman setter Brooke Davis collected 18 assists for the match, while Stewart added 11. The Petrels hit over .300 as a team in all three sets of the match.

The Petrels started the match by going up 12-3 in the first set. After a few Rust points, a 6-1 Petrel run further extended the lead to 19-7. The Bearcats were able to cut the lead to 20-11, but the Petrels put the set away from there, winning five straight points for a 25-11 victory. 

In the second set, Rust went up 3-1 early, but another big run put the Petrels in the driver's seat again. Oglethorpe outscored the Bearcats 12-2 over the next stratch, taking a 13-5 lead. Rust had another spurt in them, going on a 4-1 run to cut the lead to 14-9. However, Oglethorpe then embarked on the run that would finish off the set. They outscored Rust 11-4 over the rest of the set to put it away, 25-13.

The Petrels looked to put it away in the third and got off to another good start, taking an 11-5 lead. Three straight points by Rust pulled them back to within three, 11-8. However, the Petrels put the match away from there. A 7-0 run pulled them out to a 19-9 lead. Then, with the score 21-13, Oglethorpe ran off the final four points of the match, winning the set, 25-13, and the match, 3-0.

The 12-10 Petrels travel down I-40 to Memphis, Tenn., on Saturday, completing the road trip with a match against Rhodes at 3 p.m. Eastern. They'll then travel to Mount Berry, Ga., to take on in-state opponent Berry at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.