GREENSBORO, N.C. – Morgan Tompkins’ 12 kills paced four Quakers double figures and helped Guilford College to a 25-21, 16-25, 25-17, 25-22 volleyball victory over visiting Randolph College Wednesday night.
The Quakers improved to 11-7 overall, 4-3 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), with their third straight win. The WildCats fell to 6-14 overall, 2-5 in the league.
The entertaining contest featured long points, short points, 14 ties, and seven lead changes. The teams combined for 26 service aces, five by Randolph senior Autumn Troxell, who also had a match-best 15 kills and 20.5 points. Guilford prevailed thanks to a balanced offense that put down 53 kills on .210 hitting. After Tompkins’ dozen putaways, Khaira Bolden registered 11 kills on .391 hitting. Amanda Rabey hit .300 and added 10 putdowns, matching Christian Ritter’s total. Randolph hit .166 as a team with Troxell (15), Rebecca Lesnak (8), and Mackenzie Ambrose (8) combining for 31 of the WildCats’ 41 kills.
The decisive fourth set saw Randolph open a 6-3 lead before Guilford reeled off six straight points, five on McKinley Durham’s serve. One of Troxell’s five fourth-set kills stopped the spurt and helped the visitors ultimately draw to within 11-10. Guilford gradually built a 17-12 margin only to have Randolph come all the way back and take a 22-20 advantage after a 5-0 run capped by a Meghan Chaffins kill. The hard-serving Troxell served up four straight points during the run. Guilford setter Tina Eucker deftly returned served to Guilford with a back-serve over the net that caught Randolph off guard for a Quakers’ point. Trailing 22-21, Christian Ritter served up four straight back-and-forth points capped by Jasmine Gaines’ kill that clinched the win.
Eucker, who was honored prior to the game on account of her 2,000th career assist, set up 47 points in another solid all-around performance. She also served up an ace, picked up eight digs, and got in on three of Guilford’s eight team blocks. Rabey had four block assists and Bolden added three in one of the Quakers’ better blocking games of the season. Rookie Cydney Scott had a strong game on the back line with a match-best 24 digs and Ritter added 16. She overcame four early attack errors and made just one in the final three sets. Classmate Logan Taft accounted for four of the team’s season-high 14 service aces and made eight digs. Durham added three aces, 11 digs, and two assists.
Troxell added a dozen digs to her 15 kills and five aces. Kennedy Webb led the Wildcats with 18 digs. Brooks Gillerlain set up 22 assists, served two aces and picked up five digs.
Coach Emily Gann’s Quakers host Hollins University Friday (10/12) in a 6:30 p.m. ODAC match in the Ragan-Brown Field House.