RALEIGH, N.C. - During day one of the Raleigh Invitational, the Guilford College volleyball team fell to Oglethorpe University in an exhausting battle, 3-2 (22-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-19, 12-15), in the Weatherspoon Athletic Center at neutral site, Meredith College, on Friday evening.
Guilford left day one with a 3-3 record as Oglethorpe finished the day at 4-1.
Valuable players that made their mark on today's match for Guilford were
Natalie Moore (Talbott, Tenn.) with her first double-double performance of the season, having 14 kills and 13 digs,
Maddi Page (Jonesboro, Ga.) dished out game-high 39 assists along with 10 digs, and
Madison Bozarth (Greensboro, N.C.) finished out with team-high 15 digs and four assists.
Key contributors for Oglethorpe involved Briella Kohler with game-high 17 kills and 11 digs, Legacy Guider walking away with team-high 15 digs and five assists, and Gabbi Phillips tallying team-high 24 assists for the Stormy Petrels.
To start off the invitational, it was the
Kaci Johnson (Winterville, N.C.) show as she garnered four of her 12 kills in set one. Moore, earning 5.5 of her 17.0 points on the evening, which bested her previous season-high of 16.0 and
Chrisbel Alcantara (San Juan, P.R.), who led with 16 kills and 17.5 points, added key kills to keep the Quakers in the game, but the Stormy Petrels quickly pushed the score to 17-11. Kills distributed by Gracie Sims, Aubrey Hill, and Ashlynn Stephens helped right before Guilford had a 4-0 run to make it 20-18. Although Moore had a couple of kills down the stretch, Oglethorpe won the set, 25-22.
In set two, Johnson, Alcantara, and Moore got Guilford on the right path with a score of 11-6, leaving Oglethorpe scoreless for five points in a row. Things were looking up for the Quakers until the Stormy Petrels took the lead due to service and attacking errors and kills by Camdyn George, Stephens, Kohler, and Hill. The team comparison for hitting percentage in set two was only .184 for Guilford while Oglethorpe earned a .400 percent. After GC's comeback-attempt faltered with attacking errors, OU won set two, 25-20.
Johnson and Alcantara dominated set three, scoring ten of the 25 points. Within the match details, it showed that the Quakers exposed the Stormy Petrels in the hitting percentage with .200 percent vs. a .097 percent. OU put up a strong group effort to stay competitive with GC, but in the back-and-forth battle, Guilford edged out Oglethorpe, winning the set 25-23.
The Quakers carried their momentum from the previous set, going on several short runs against the Stormy Petrels. Kohler, Stephens, and Sims each had moments to rally their team, but Alcantara's five kills overshadowed their efforts.
Vanessa Johnson (Charlotte, N.C.) added to the mix, throwing in two of her three kills in this set alongside her three blocks. Despite the alternating score in the fourth set, Oglethorpe could not match Guilford's momentum, never scoring more than three consecutive points. Guilford claimed the set with a 25-19 victory.
Set five was in Kohler's control where she delivered five of her 17 kills in that set alone. Moore fought hard to keep Guilford in the game, tying the score at 11 and earning a service ace, but attacking errors and a Kohler kill brought day one of the Raleigh Invitational to a close for GC. Oglethorpe outlasted Guilford in the final set to 15-12 to make the final score 3-2.
Guilford starts day two of the Raleigh Invitational Saturday, Sept. 7 at 9 a.m. facing Catholic University in a neutral site battle hosted by William Peace. Later on, GC plays against William Peace at 11 a.m.
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