The Oglethorpe volleyball team found itself in a difficult matchup Sunday afternoon in Birmingham, Alabama, against a tough Birmingham-Southern team receiving votes in the latest national coaches' poll. The Stormy Petrels fought hard but fell 3-0 to the homestanding Panthers. The loss drops Oglethorpe to 2-8 on the season, 0-2 in SAA play.

The first set started with Birmingham-Southern jumping out to a 9-1 advantage, but the Petrels embarked on a 9-2 run to pull back to within a single point, 11-10. The two sides traded points for a time and the Panthers led 16-14 later in the set. However, BSC finished the stanza on a 9-4 stretch to take the first set, 25-18. 

In the second set, Oglethorpe pushed out to a 7-4 advantage in the early-going. From there, though, Birmingham-Southern embarked on a huge run to take control of the set. They finished the stanza on a 21-3 run to take the set 25-10. The Panthers were able to put the match away in the third set, defeating the Petrels 25-5 to close out the proceedings. They scored the final 19 points of the set.

Freshman outside hitter MaryAnn Smith led the team with seven kills on the afternoon while freshman setter Hannah Masiongale added 14 assists. Freshman defensive specialist Savannah Grove and freshman right-side hitter Savanna Hockman each pulled nine digs while freshman defensive specialist Delaney Findling added eight digs of her own.

"We had another slow start in the first set but we got back on track and executed what we did in scouting," said Head Coach Richie Tang. "Our passing during our run was very solid and gave us the ability to run our offense. We started off well in the second set and had the lead, but we got stuck in a rotation due to our service reception. Overall, it was a tough weekend to open SAA play, but we still had some great moments and some moments that need better consistency."

The Petrels will continue SAA play on Wednesday when they travel to Mount Berry, Georgia, to take on No. 17 Berry. After that, they'll be back on the road next weekend to face Sewanee and Centre on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.