Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 The Oglethorpe volleyball team went 0-2 in a non-conference tri-match Tuesday on Emory's campus in the Druid Hills neighborhood of Atlanta, falling to No. 5 Emory 3-0 before dropping a tight, back-and-forth affair with Agnes Scott 3-2. The results dropped the Stormy Petrels to 8-13 on the season overall.
The second match of the day was a 5-set marathon against the Scotties. The Petrels fell behind 2-0 but came battling back to tie the score 2-2, buoyed by an outstanding performance from sophomore outside hitter Ashlee Tolbert. She recorded an impressive 26 kills while putting up an outstanding .605 hitting percentage for the match. In addition, she totaled 4.5 blocks. Agnes Scott responded with a 15-4 fifth-set win, though, taking the match.
Agnes Scott jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the opening set, but the Petrels responded with a 5-2 push of their own to cut the Scottie lead to 7-5. A 7-2 push by Agnes Scott extended their lead back out to 14-7, though. A couple of Oglethorpe responses pulled them to within three, 16-13, but the Scotties ran off five points in a row to make it 21-13. From there, the Petrels came back in a big way, going on an 8-1 run to pull to within a single point, 22-21. However, Agnes Scott finished off the set, 25-22.
The second set started much the same way the first did, as Agnes Scott took a 6-0 lead over the Petrels at the outset. Oglethorpe came back with a 5-1 response to pull it to within a couple points, 7-5, and the two sides traded points for awhile after that. Agnes Scott went on a 3-point run to make it 15-10, but the Petrels answered with a 6-1 run of their own to tie the score, 16-16. The Scotties slowly pushed back ahead from there, though, taking a 22-18 advantage before closing out the stanza, 25-20.
The Petrels began their comeback in the third, but it was a 6-4 advantage for the Scotties early on. Oglethorpe responded with an 8-2 run from there, though, to take a 12-8 lead. Agnes Scott responded with a mini-run to pull back to within one and the two teams traded points for much of the rest of the set. The Scotties tied the match at 21-21 and attained match point at 24-23, but the Petrels had an answer, finishing consecutive points to attain set point at 25-24. Agnes Scott tied it again, but the Petrels came back with consecutive points to win the set, 27-25.
With new life, Oglethorpe built a huge lead to start the fourth set, pulling out to a 3-0 edge and then extending that to 10-3. A 4-point run brought Agnes Scott back to within three at 10-7, but the Petrels pushed it back out to a 13-7 advantage and then went on a 6-point run to take a 20-10 lead. The Scotties mounted a big comeback and actually tied the score at 23-23. Oglethorpe stopped the run, though, and attained set point at 24-23. Agnes Scott staved it off, but the Petrels came back with consecutive points for a 27-25 fourth-set victory.
Unfortunately, the fifth set did not go Oglehthorpe's way. Agnes Scott got off to an 11-2 lead and didn't look back from there, winning it 15-4 for the 3-2 victory.
In addition to Tolbert's outstanding performance, the Petrels also got great efforts from junior setter Jordan Jones, who finished with a season-high 44 assists and 12 digs, and sophomore libero Anna Rash, who pulled 23 digs over the course of the match.
"In several sets, we were very sluggish against a scrappy Agnes Scott team," said Oglethorpe head coach
Richie Tang. "We missed out on opportunities to put the ball in play, especially from the service line. We missed 19 serves tonight and if we expect to win matches, we have to challenge our opponents better. Offensively, we needed a few other hitters to win more points tonight, we lacked the offensive production needed to win. On the plus side, Ashlee had an amazing performance tonight, and Jordan put her in some great situations. Ashlee completed plays all night and had a career night."
The Petrels found themselves in tough against an Emory team that is currently tied for fifth in the Division III coaches' poll. They fought hard, but the highly-ranked Eagles proved to be just too much on the evening.
Emory got off to a good start in the opening stanza, outscoring the Petrels 18-7 to begin the match. After a mini-run by each team, the Petrels finished four of the next five points to cut the Emory advantage to 22-13. The home side ran off the next three, though, securing a 25-13 victory in the first.
The Petrels fought hard in the second set, despite falling behind early on in the proceedings. The Eagles began on a 14-8 run, but the visitors responded, embarking on a 4-0 mini-run to cut the Eagle advantage to 14-12. A 5-1 run after that pushed the Eagles ahead 19-13, but the Petrels came back with two of the next three to make it 20-16. A 3-point run by Emory gave them control of the set, 23-16, but the Petrels did finish back-to-back points to pull to within five. Emory finished off the final two points for a 25-18 victory in the second.
Emory pushed out to an 8-2 lead to begin the third set as they looked to close the match out. The Petrels responded with three straight points to make it 8-5. From there, however, Emory went on the run that would serve to close the match, outscoring the Petrels 12-4 over that stretch to take a 20-9 advantage. The visitors responded with four points in a row, but Emory eventually closed the set, 25-15.
The Petrels were led by Jones, who passed out 10 assists, and Rash, who pulled 11 digs. Tolbert recorded 1.5 blocks while freshman defensive specialist Alex Prots led the team with four service aces.
"I was pleased with how we competed against the No. 5 team in the nation," said Tang. "Our struggle this year is our hitters completing the set to terminate the ball. Emory's block did not make it easy for us to attack and score."
The Petrels will return home over the weekend, when they'll host a couple of tri-matches on Friday and Sunday. Friday features No. 25 Hendrix and Texas Lutheran taking on the Petrels beginning at 3 p.m., while Rhodes and Covenant will visit Dorough Field House starting at 1 p.m. Saturday.
