The Oglethorpe volleyball team found itself in a tough matchup against the homestanding Berry Vikings Wednesday night in Mount Berry, Georgia, falling 3-0 to their in-state rivals. The loss dropped the Stormy Petrels to 7-10 on the season overall and 1-7 in SAA play. 

The Petrels got off to a tough start in the first set, falling behind Berry 4-0 . The home side was able to extend that advantage to 8-3 before the Petrels went on a 4-1 run of their own to make it 9-7. However, the Vikings embarked on a run of seven consecutive points to take a 19-9 advantage. The two teams traded points for a time, but Berry finished on a 4-2 run to take the set 25-15.

The Vikings began the second set in much the same fashion, pushing out to a 12-5 advantage early. A 4-1 Oglethorpe run pulled them to within five points, 13-9, but the two teams commenced trading points for awhile, keeping Berry in a 19-14 lead. From there, a 6-1 Berry run closed the set, giving the home side another 25-15 victory.

The Petrels jumped to a 6-4 lead to begin the third set as they looked to stay alive in the match. The Vikings embarked on an 11-3 run from there, though, building a 15-9 advantage. After back-to-back Oglethorpe points, Berry began a 7-1 stretch to build a 22-12 lead in the third set. Oglethorpe responded with a 4-1 run to cut Berry's advantage to 23-16, but the Vikings finished the final two points for a 25-16 win in the set and a 3-0 victory for the match.

Sophomore libero Anna Rash led all participants with 16 digs on the evening, while junior setter Jordan Jones finished with a team-high 17 assists. Freshman middle hitter Nicole Felder led the Petrels with three assisted blocks while sophomore outside hitter Santreece Stephens added seven kills. 

"Today was a tough loss and we didn't play our best," said Oglethorpe head coach Richie Tang. "Berry's a very good team and all the credit goes to them for their performance tonight. In each set, they had a point run that gave them control and we just couldn't get it back. We have four more matches on the road here before returning home for the rest of the regular season. We'll go to Sewanee and Centre this weekend and look to pick up a conference road win."

The Petrels will head back out on the road over the weekend, when they travel to Sewanee, Tennessee, and Danville, Kentucky. They'll take on Sewanee in the former at 2 p.m. Eastern Saturday before going against Centre in the latter at noon Sunday.