The Oglethorpe volleyball team earned a split in its tri-match on Sunday, falling 3-1 to SAA foe Birmingham-Southern before sweeping non-conference opponent Wesleyan (Ga.), 3-0.

Overall, the Stormy Petres improved their play from Saturday, when they got swept by Millsaps and Covenant. The first set of the match against Birmingham-Southern, a solid conference opponent, was a tight one, with the Panthers coming back to win it, 27-25. The Petrels were able to take a set, as well, before eventually falling. They then came back later in the afternoon and trounced the Wesleyan Wolves in straight sets.

Against Birmingham-Southern, the Petrels got a team-high 16 kills from senior outside hitter McKenna Bondarenko, who also contributed 14 digs. Fellow senior outside hitter Anna Marie DiSalvo also finished in double figures in both categories, recording 11 kills and 10 digs. Freshman setter Katie Stewart passed out 34 assists while pulling 12 digs of her own, while senior libero Megan Makuck collected 34 digs on the match. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, and the Petrels fell, 27-25, 25-19, 20-25, 25-11.

The Petrels had a big opportunity to take the lead against their SAA opponents in the first set but couldn't close it out. Using an 11-2 run, Oglethorpe took an early 11-4 lead. The Petrels continued pushing the lead out, using a 4-1 mini-run to take an eight-point advantage, 15-7. The two teams traded points for a little while after that, but the Petrels had a 20-12 advantage in the set. From there, the Panthers started their comeback, though. They ran off a 7-1 spurt to pull to within two, 21-19. It looked like the Petrels had righted the ship with back-to-back points after that, but Birmingham-Southern continued their run and closed the set with an 8-2 stretch to come all the way back and win it, 27-25.

The momentum from that set continued into the second, as Birmingham-Southern went on a big early run to take a 15-8 lead. The Petrels made a nice run to get the set back into a manageable position, 18-15, but the Panthers went back up by five, 22-17. One final run from Oglethorpe cut the Birmingham-Southern lead back down to three again, but they finished the set after that, 25-19.

In the third set, the Petrels got back on the beam. They played the Panthers even over the first portion, 11-11. Then, they went on a 10-3 run, taking a 21-14 lead. Birmingham-Southern fought back with a three-point run to get back within four. They were never really in the set however, and the Petrels cruised to the 25-20 win, keeping the match alive.

The fourth set, though, was all Birmingham-Southern. After Oglethorpe took an early 4-3 lead, the Panthers ran off 11 consecutive points to turn the set upside down, 14-4. The Petrels would trade points with them for the rest of the set, but that wasn't enough to gain any traction. The Panthers won the set, 25-11, and the match, 3-1.

In the afternoon match, though, the Petrels got well against a Wesleyan team they'd already beaten 3-0 in their season opening match. They took it to the visiting Wolves and won going away, 25-11, 25-8, 25-8.  DiSalvo led the team with 11 kills and accumulated 10 digs, as well. Stewart contributed 21 assists while Makuck led the team with 11 digs.

The Petrels got off to a quick 11-4 start to begin the match, then settled in, pushing the lead up to 14-6 before a Wesleyan mini-run shrunk it a bit. The Petrels finished the set on an 11-2 run, though, taking it 25-11.

The Petrels hit well in the first set (.346), but the second set was a clinic for the home team. They hit .545 as a team over the course of the set, killing off 13 of their 22 attacks while committing only one error. Oglethorpe started the set on a 10-4 run, then continued it in a big way, closing out the stanza on a 15-2 stretch. The Petrels easily won the set, 25-8.

The third set was much the same, though this time the gigantic Petrel run came early in the set. Oglethorpe started proceedings on a 17-2 spurt, essentially putting the match completely away. They continued with a 7-2 run to earn a match point at 24-6. Wesleyan fought it off twice, but the Petrels eventually put them away, winning the set, 25-8, and the match, 3-0.

For the season now, the Petrels have beaten Wesleyan in all six sets which the two teams have contested, defeating them by an average of around 25-11 per set.

The Petrels move to 9-7 on the season and fall to 0-3 in SAA play with their loss to Birmingham-Southern. The Petrels will not have a midweek match this week and will next take the floor on Saturday with another weekend of tri-matches at Dorough Field House. The Petrels will take on Centre and Piedmont on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. before welcoming Sewanee and nationally-ranked Emory in on Sunday starting at noon.