ATLANTA – Trailing two sets to none in the final home match of 2022, the Oglethorpe volleyball team treated fans and its three graduating seniors to one of the most exhilarating comebacks of the season with a reverse sweep of Rhodes College Sunday afternoon in Dorough Field House. Oglethorpe won 25-27, 18-25, 25-13, 25-13, 15-9.

Senior Jackie Schner led the way for the Stormy Petrels with 15 kills and really came to life when her team's back was against the wall. She tallied 10 kills alongside only three errors in the last three sets, helping Oglethorpe complete its first reverse sweep and improve to 2-0 in five-set matches this season.

Fellow senior Emelia Sengstock also had a great contribution to the offensive effort with six kills and no errors.

Oglethorpe could have won easily in three sets to repeat the three-set effort in the season's earlier matchup, but the Petrels let leads of 23-22 and 24-23 slip away in the opening set. Rhodes then used the momentum from its 4-1 run at the end of the first set to win the second set 25-18.

Then, however, Oglethorpe put up a run of its own, this one a devastating 13-3 run in the second set highlighted by kills on five straight points. The latter part of the run featured an 8-0 run on the serve of Legacy Guider.

The Petrels were far from putting on the breaks at the start of the fourth set, as they won the first six points to make it a 19-3 run in total, spanning the end of the third and start of the fourth. Gabbi Phillips had the opening serve on this run, and found targets such as Schner (x2) and Cate Rosenthal (x2) while adding in a kill and a service ace of her own. The 6-0 run to start the fourth all came from kills and a service ace.

In the deciding set to 15, it was all tied up at 5-5 before a 4-0 Oglethorpe run on the serve of Sophia St. Clair. This gave the Petrels all the separation they needed, and Rosenthal ended the match with her 13th kill.

Match Notes

• Oglethorpe honored seniors Melanie Davis, Jackie Schner and Emelia Sengstock prior to the match
• Sofia Cendoya tallied 33 digs which matched her career high set earlier this season in the five-set win over Centre
• Schner added 18 digs while Phillips had 46 assists and 14 digs
• Freshman Ashlynn Stephens provided another spark off the bench with seven kills, all coming after the first two sets and five coming in the third set

Up Next

Oglethorpe hits the road for Piedmont on Wednesday before heading to Millsaps and Birmingham Southern over next weekend. The Petrels have six more matches on the regular-season schedule, all on the road.