The Oglethorpe volleyball team split its two matches as part of a tri-match Saturday in Dorough Field House, defeating Piedmont, 3-1, in the late match after falling to Centre in an SAA contest, 3-0, in the first match of the day.

In the final match of the day, the Stormy Petrels lost the first set, but took it to the visiting Lions over the course of the next three, taking three in a row. The Petrels eventually emerged victorious, 20-25, 25-9, 25-14, 25-16. Senior outside hitter McKenna Bondarenko led the team with 18 kills over the course of the match and hit .317, while fellow senior outside hitter Anna Marie DiSalvo recorded 12 kills and 16 digs while hitting .370. Senior middle blocker Lisa Inglis recorded a season-high 11 kills of her own while hitting .400, and freshman middle blocker Kaitlyn Woodruff hit a team-high .471 while recording eight kills and seven digs. Freshman setter Katie Stewart passed out 43 assists and senior libero Megan Makuck pulled 22 digs with freshman defensive specialist Gianna Zitello coming up with 10.

Things did not start well for the Petrels, however. They went ahead, 9-7, in the first set, but the Lions ran off six points in a row to take a 14-10 lead. A subsequent 7-1 run made it 23-15 in favor of Piedmont before Oglethorpe went on a bit of a run to make it a four-point game, 24-20. It was too late to salvage the set, though, and Piedmont finished it on the next point, 25-10.

However, the Petrels continued the momentum from the end of that set into the second, as they blitzed Piedmont, 25-9. The Petrels had a 22-7 lead before Piedmont was able to score back-to-back points. Oglethorpe finished the set with three straight after that, tying proceedings, 1-1.

The Petrels continued their domination in the third, taking a 5-1 lead in the early-going. Then they followed that up with a 5-0 run push their lead out to 14-7. The two teams traded points for a while, which suited Oglethorpe just fine. Then, the Petrels put on one final push to close the set out, outscoring the Lions 7-1 to close the stanza out.

In the fourth set, Oglethorpe continued its excellent play from the previous two, getting off to an 11-5 lead. Piedmont was never really able to get into the set and found themselves down 21-16. Oglethorpe then ran off four consecutive points to close out the match, 25-16.

For the match, the Petrels hit very well, especially in the second set, when they hit .536. They followed that up with a .265 hitting percentage in the third and a .286 hitting percentage in the fourth.

In the first match of the day, the Petrels fell to SAA rival Centre, 25-19, 25-20, 25-21. DiSalvo recorded 12 kills and 19 digs for the match, while Stewart recorded 13 assists and freshman setter Brooke Davis added 11 in her first career start. Zitello contributed 15 digs and Bondarenko recorded 14 of them.

In the first set, the Petrels fell behind 16-9 before going on a three-point run to cut it to 16-12. They eventually pulled it to within three, 21-18, but Centre pulled back away from there, winning it 25-19.

In the second, the Petrels were able to build a 14-9 lead, but Centre came back with a five-point run to tie the score, 14-14. After back-to-back Oglethorpe points, Centre took control of the set, going on an 11-4 run to close out the stanza.

In the third and final set, the Colonels jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but the Petrels bounced back with a 6-1 run and tied the set. They continued to put on steam, building an 18-13 advantage in the set. Oglethorpe was able to pull within a single point. However, four straight points from Centre put the match away.

The Stormy Petrels will be back in action Sunday, when they host SAA rival Sewanee at noon before welcoming No. 3 Emory into Dorough Field House at 4 p.m.