College Volleyball Final – Roanoke 3, Guilford 1

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Sydney Daniel had 12 kills and Logan Graves added 11 in Roanoke College’s 25-17, 27-25, 19-25, 25-15 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) volleyball win at Guilford College Friday night. The Maroons (12-0, 3-0 ODAC) extended their school-record winning streak with the hard-fought triumph.

Kylah Blackmore put down five of her six kills in the first set and Graves added four as the Maroons hit .364 to win the opener. Both teams struggled for efficient hitting set two, which saw nine ties and four lead changes. The Quakers (1-7, 0-2 ODAC) twice served for the set, but Daniel delivered a saving kill on one point and added another that put Roanoke ahead for good, 26-25.

Guilford turned in its best set in the third, behind five of Kelsey Ruehling’s team-high 13 kills. Teammate Heather Crawford (Saltville, Va./Northwood) contributed three putaways and four of her career-high eight blocks. The third set featured six draws and three lead changes before the Quakers pulled away by winning nine of the final 13 points.

Roanoke setter Jessica Block served up two of her match-high five aces to start the clinching set, which sparked the Maroons to an insurmountable 6-0 lead. Guilford twice rallied to within two points, but Roanoke took advantage of six Quakers’ hitting errors down the stretch.

Block added a match-best 37 assists and 10 digs for Roanoke. Teammate Allison White finished with eight kills and Alexandra Martin (Roanoke, Va./North Cross) picked up 14 digs.

Guilford’s Crawford backed Ruehling with a career-high 11 putaways on .292 hitting. Maile Munro had 25 assists and five digs. Casey Davis had six kills, two aces, four blocks and a match-best 18 digs.

Coach Emily Gann’s Quakers host Hollins University Saturday (9/19) in a 1:00 p.m. ODAC contest.