College Volleyball Finals – Guilford Downs Eastern Mennonite & Methodist in Home Trimatch

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College swept a tri-match with visiting Eastern Mennonite University and Methodist University Saturday in the Ragan-Brown Field House. The Quakers (10-10) downed Eastern Mennonite (8-10) in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) game, 25-19, 25-19, 25-18, and rallied to defeat Methodist (9-10), 25-21, 23-25, 25-13, 25-21, 15-10.

Guilford’s Taylor Whitley (China Grove, N.C./Jesse C. Carson) set up a match-high 30 assists and added two service aces and nine digs in the Quakers’ first match of the day, which improved their league record to 4-3. Many of her assists went to fellow senior Brittany Freeman, who led all students with 10 kills and also chipped in an ace and eight digs. Senior middle blocker Malikah French added nine kills on .250 hitting and had a match-best four blocks. She accounted for a team-high 12 points in the contest. Kelsey Ruehling led the way with 13 digs.

D Probst put away eight kills and had a block assist for the Royals. Dani Driver set up 23 assists and picked up seven digs. Rebecca Hardy contributed six kills and four digs.

After pulling out a 3-2 win at Salem Friday night and another five-set win over Eastern Mennonite Saturday, Methodist turned around grabbed a 2-1 lead on the Quakers. Guilford recovered, however, and won the final two sets to increase their winning streak to a season-high four matches.

Michaela Wall had three of her season-high 10 kills in the decisive fifth set for Guilford. The Quakers hit .667 in the final set and did not commit a hitting error. Freeman paced four Quakers in double-digit kills with 14 putaways, and also had a team-high 16 digs. French had 12 kills and only one error, leading to a .579 hitting percentage. She also had three blocks and a service ace. Ruehling added 10 kills and nine digs. Meredith Foscue contributed 15 kills and Whitley set up 46 assists. She also had 13 digs.

Methodist’s Allison Graves led all students with 26 kills and also had 14 digs. Emily Krochmal (Greensboro, N.C./Northern Guilford) added 14 kills and 12 digs and Risa Smith had a triple double with 14 kills, 28 assists and 13 digs.

Guilford wrapped up a six-game home stand with a 5-1 record and now hits the road. The Quakers visit Roanoke College Wednesday (10/9) for a 6:30 p.m. ODAC match.