The Oglethorpe volleyball team picked up their second split of the weekend Sunday at the Schmidt Center, defeating non-conference opponent Rust 3-0 for the second consecutive day after falling in a hard-fought 3-0 contest to SAA opponent Hendrix. The results move the Stormy Petrels to 5-14 on the season, 0-7 in SAA play.

The day started with a match against defending SAA champion  Hendrix and the Petrels were competitive throughout. The Warriors jumped out to a 6-0 lead early, but the Petrels immediately answered back with a 10-4 run to tie the score, 10-10. Hendrix slowly pushed back ahead, building a 21-15 lead. The Petrels took four of the next six points to cut the Hendrix edge to 23-19 but the Warriors were able to finish it off and win the set 25-19.

The second set proved to be an exciting back-and-forth affair. Hendrix pushed out to a 4-2 lead early but the Petrels responded with four straight points to build a two-point lead of their own. The two teams traded points for much of the rest of the set with neither team ever leading by more than three. The Warriors attained a 22-19 lead late in the stanza, but the Petrels responded with five straight points to not only take the lead, but attain set point, 24-22. However, Hendrix came back with five straight points of their own to close out the set 26-24.

The Petrels jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the third set, but Hendrix responded with an 8-4 run to tie the score at 10-10. The Warriors then continued their run, outscoring the home team 15-5 over the remainder of the match. They took the third set 25-15 for the 3-0 win.

Over the course of the match, freshman outside hitter MaryAnn Smith led the team with six kills. Freshman setter Hannah Masiongale contributed 19 assists while sophomore defensive specialist Gianna Zitello led the squad with six digs for the match.

"I thought we played well against Hendrix," said Head Coach Richie Tang. "We knew were were up against one of the best teams in the league and I thought we competed for the whole match. We were very close to taking a set at several points during the match, but we needed to hit a little better to have a chance, I think. It's a mental game and we're seeing our freshmen grow from match to match. It takes patience and it's a process, but we continue to see improvement from our squad."

Later in the afternoon, the Petrels took on the Rust Bearcats for the second consecutive day. They got off to a huge start in the opening set, building a 22-2 lead. Rust went on a 7-1 run to make the score 23-9, but the Petrels answered back with back-to-back points, winning the set 25-9.

The second set was close over its first half, as the two teams were tied 11-11. However, the Petrels responded with another gigantic run, putting the set away with a 14-1 spurt to win it 25-12.  The third set was more of the same. After the Bearcats took an early 6-5 lead, the Petrels finished nine consecutive points to push to a 14-6 advantage. After back-to-back Rust points, the Petrels continued their run, going on a 7-1 stretch to extend their lead to 21-9. The home team cruised from there, taking the set 25-13 and the match 3-0.

The Petrels will welcome in-state opponent Berry to the Schmidt Center Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. as they continue SAA play. The two teams played in Mount Berry, Georgia, Sept. 23, a match which the Vikings won 3-0.