The Oglethorpe volleyball team fell 3-1 to Maryville (Tennessee) in a hard-fought match Tuesday evening at the Schmidt Center, winning the third set 25-21 after falling 25-17 and 25-21 in the first two sets, respectively. The visiting Scots were able to put the match away in the fourth, however, with a 25-14 win. The loss drops the Stormy Petrels to 5-21 on the season.

The first set began with Maryville taking a 6-2 lead over the Petrels. The home side fought back to take a 9-8 lead, but the Scots responded and slowly started pulling away, building a 20-13 advantage. The Petrels cut the Scots' advantage to 22-17, but the visitors won three straight points after that to take the opening stanza 25-17.

In the second set, the two teams went back and forth at the beginning of the proceedings. The Petrels held an 8-7 lead early on, but Maryville bounced back to take five straight points and build a 12-8 lead. Oglethorpe responded with a 5-1 mini-run that tied the score at 13-apiece, but a 5-2 Maryville response built the lead back up to 18-15. The Scots extended their lead to 22-18 before the Petrels pushed back with three straight to make the score 22-21. However, Maryville won three straight points after that to take the set 25-21.

The Petrels started off well in the third, building a small lead and then maintaining it as the two teams traded points. Oglethorpe led by as much as 7-4 in the early-going, but Maryville did tie it 10-10 later on in the set. However, the Petrels went on a huge run from that point, rolling off eight straight points to take an 18-10 lead. Maryville managed to answer right back immediately, though, embarking on a 9-1 run of their own to tie the score 19-19. The Petrels finished strong, however, closing the set with a 5-1 run and winning it 25-21.

The Scots got off to a big lead in the fourth set, though, and never relinquished it. They slowly built their advantage until they had started the set on a 20-9 run. The Petrels ran off three straight to pull to within eight, but Maryville was able to finish off the set 25-14 and match 3-1.

The Petrels did get some excellent individual performances, however, with freshman outside hitter Santreece Stephens chief among them. She racked up 16 kills while putting together a .364 hitting percentage. Fellow freshman Hannah Masiongale dished out 20 assists while freshman libero Savannah Grove pulled 13 digs and sophomore defensive specialist Gianna Zitello pulled 12. Freshman middle hitter Ashlee Tolbert led the team with six total blocks, five assisted and one solo. 

"I thought our defense was really stellar tonight against a Maryville team that perennially wins their conference," said Head Coach Richie Tang. "Gianna and Savannah Grove held down the back row for us. Meanwhile, Santreece had an amazing game with 16 kills, but we need our other hitters to be offensive-minded. We had to match Maryville's offensive production and, if we were a few kills better, we might have won the first and second sets. It's tough to lose a close match, but Maryville is a quality team and it certainly gives us confidence to know we can compete with some of the best opponents in our region. It is a process and we can't cut corners on the road to success."

The Petrels will close out SAA play this weekend with visits from Birmingham-Southern and Millsaps. The Panthers will visit Saturday at 1 p.m. which will be the team's annual Dig Pink contest. The Majors will then help the Petrels close out the SAA season Sunday at 2 p.m. from the Schmidt Center.