Balanced offense and defense lead Guilford College to a season opening win over Pfeiffer University, 3-0. Kaci Johnson and Paige McDonald led the attack with 10 and eight kills, respectively.

In the opening set, Guilford (1-0) claimed the first five points and jumped out to an 8-1 advantage. Pfeiffer (0-1) slowly climbed its way back into the set and eventually tied the set at 22.

Both squads traded the next four points as the set remained tied at 24. However, back-to-back blocks by Madison Duvall gave the Quakers the 26-24 set win.

In the second set, it was GC that claimed the early advantage (12-6), capped off by an ace off the hand of Zoe Whisnant. The Quakers extended the lead to 11 at two different points including 22-11.

The Falcons cut the deficit to eight on two occasions but Guilford held on for the set win, 25-16, and took a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set was a seesaw affair with both teams going on small runs. Eventually, the Quakers opened its largest lead of the set, 19-14, after a block from Maddi Page. Pfeiffer pulled within one at 20-19 and 22-21. Unfortunately for the visitors, two of the final three GC points came off self-inflicted damage as Guilford won 25-21 and 3-0 overall.

Page finished the evening with 31 assists, three kills, three digs and three blocks. Duvall added four kills, five blocks and two aces. Defensively, Lydia Saunders led the way with 14 digs. As a team, the Quakers hit .234 from the floor as Johnson led the way with a percentage of .444.

Guilford travels to Pfeiffer University on Saturday, September 3 for a tri-match against the Falcons and the Randolph College WildCats. First match is set to begin at 12 p.m.