College Volleyball Final – Guilford 3, Hollins 2

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Kelsey Ruehling put away a career-high 24 kills and matched the school record with nine service aces in Guilford College’s 3-2 volleyball win over Hollins University Saturday. The Quakers (2-8. 1-2 ODAC) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to score their first Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) win of the season, 25-13, 23-25, 25-27, 25-11, 15-5. Guilford’s Maile Munro set up a career-high 65 assists, one shy of the school standard.

Ruehling and Munro both served up four aces in the opening set, which helped the Quakers take a 12-4 lead. Casey Davis put away five of her career-high 22 kills on seven attempts with no errors and Guilford looked well on its way to victory.

Hollins recovered, however, and pulled out a pair of narrow wins in the second and third sets. Deja Hadden delivered 10 kills with no errors in 21 attempts over the two games, and supported a strong blocking performance that had 10 team blocks. Hadden finished with a team-best 15 kills on .387 hitting.

With their backs against the wall, Guilford jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the fourth set and did not let Hollins recover. Ruehling put away four kills and Davis added three in the game. The Quakers hit .333 as a team.

Guilford maintained the momentum in the fifth set and took an early 7-2 edge before Hollins called timeout. Marinda Popp served up four straight points after the break and the Quakers had an insurmountable 11-2 lead. Davis notched five kills in the clincher.

Becca Benfield and Heather Crawford both added 11 kills apiece for Guilford, which hit .268 for the match. Steffi Dutton’s 18 pickups led four Quakers with double-figure digs totals. Davis added 16 digs and hit .346 on the day.

Hadden added a match-best seven blocks to her 15 kills. Rikki Martinez put away eight kills and Lela Moore had a club-best 29 assists. Haley Ortiz paced Hollins with 18 digs.

Coach Emily Gann’s team plays Tuesday (9/22) at Salem College at 7:00 p.m.