ROME, Ga. - The Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels faced some of the top teams in the nation this weekend in No. 7 Emory, No.14 Berry, and No. 2 East Texas Baptist, falling in all three but taking a set against the No. 2 Tigers.

Match one vs. No. 7 Emory

Oglethorpe went down the road for a quick match against the Emory Eagles. Ashlynn Stephens made nine digs and Autumn Lilly had three aces. 

The Eagles dominated the first set 25-13, but the Petrels fared better in the second set. A strong of errors by Emory plus aces by Lilly gave Oglethorpe a 13-12 lead. Emory quickly took it back, then Camdyn George and Madison Williams made kills to put the Petrels back on top. This tug-of-war did not last long enough, and the Eagles stole the set 25-19.

The third and final set favored the Eagles once again, as they racked up points from the beginning for a 25-11 final. Emory walked away with the 3-0 win.

Match two vs. No. 14 Berry

Berry hosted a weekend of round robin play with primarily nonconference members. 

Lilly made 20 assists, and Alise Mayers made seven digs.

The Vikings won the first set 25-17. The Petrels got much closer in the second set but were never able to take the lead and fell 25-21. Oglethorpe also struggled to find footing in the final set and fell 25-16 as the Vikings took a 3-0 win.

Match three vs. No. 2 East Texas Baptist

George made nine kills and a career high seven digs, Lilly made 31 assists and 12 digs. Mayers also made 12 digs and Williams had eight kills. Freshman Ella Hughes made a season high of seven blocks, and Aubrey Hill a career high of five.

George earned the first point of the game with a quick kill, but the Tigers dominated the rest of the set for a 25-9 win. The Tigers stayed on top in the beginning of the second set, but the Petrels swooped in toward the end with kills from George and Mayers leading to a 24-20 lead. The Tigers made two more points, but another kill from George took the set 25-23 from one of the best teams in the nation.

Oglethorpe continued to fight in the third and fourth sets but were overpowered in both. The Petrels were close again in the 25-22 third set, but then fell 25-15 in the fourth.

Weekend Notes

• Ariana Roeder made her first collegiate ace in the East Texas Baptist match.
• Oglethorpe made six aces against Berry's four.
• The Petrels made 51 digs against the Tigers' 57.
• This was Oglethorpe's first ever match with East Texas Baptist.

Up Next

The Stormy Petrels will head to Memphis to face Rhodes on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 1 p.m. ET. The next home match will be Saturday, Oct. 18, at 2 p.m. against Southwestern.