ASHLAND, VA – Behind 20 kills from Mallory Carter, the Randolph-Macon Volleyball team scored a 3-2 victory over No. 6 Christopher Newport Tuesday night in Ashland.

With the win, R-MC improves to 15-3 overall, while CNU is the highest ranked opponent R-MC has ever beaten. The Captains are now 18-3 on the season.

Carter paced the Yellow Jackets with 20 kills and added 18 digs on the defensive side of the net. Jessica Sears chipped in for R-MC with 11 kills of her own and 10 digs as well. Hillary Jessee and Tori Puryear had eight and seven kills, respectively for the Yellow Jackets.

Joining Sears and Carter in double-digit digs was Marli Dabareiner who notched a career-high 32 stops on the evening. Joelle Gross came off the bench to collect 10 digs and setter Baily Troia added nine to go along with her 46 assists on the evening.

CNU came out strong taking game one by the score of 25-10. In game two, Carter and Sears each had five kills to help R-MC knot the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 win. In that game, R-MC found itself down 23-21. After back-to-back errors by CNU tied the game, R-MC got a block from Troia and a kill from Puryear to seal the win for the Jackets.

In game three, with the score tied at 9-9, R-MC rattled off nine of the next 12 points, taking an 18-12 advantage on a Carter kill, one of her six in the game. CNU would battle back, cutting it to 23-21, before R-MC took the next two points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

After the Captains rebounded to win 25-19 in game four, the Yellow Jackets came out strong in the fifth and deciding game. With the score tied at 3-3, the Jackets reeled off seven straight points, taking a 10-3 lead on a kill by Sears. With the score 13-7, a kill from Carter gave R-MC match point. After a serving error by R-MC cut it to 14-8, the match ended when CNU's ensuing serve went out of bounds.

Randolph-Macon will be back in ODAC action tomorrow night when it hosts Eastern Mennonite at 7:00 p.m. Prior to the match, R-MC will recognize seniors Caroline Brown, Mallory James and Casey West for their four years of accomplishments and dedication to the program.

-Yellow Jackets-