ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Randolph-Macon hit over .300 in the second and third sets, which helped push the team to its first Continental Volleyball Conference win in as many games Friday evening. Freshman Kolby Gibson (Bumpass, Va. / Louisa) led the team with 19 kills while sophomore Lenny Sampson, Jr. (Chesapeake, Va. / Indian River) made five blocks.

The Basics

Score: Randolph-Macon 3, Elizabethtown 1 (22-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-20)

Location/Venue: Elizabethtown, Pa./Thompson Gymnasium

Records: Randolph-Macon (3-7, 1-0 CVC), Elizabethtown (6-4, 0-1 CVC)

How It Happened

• The Yellow Jackets started out with the lead in the first set, but it was quickly surrendered on a 7-0 run by Elizabethtown. R-MC earned about half of the points back with a 4-0 run. The Blue Jays kept pushing forward though and despite R-MC's attempts to get on a late run, won the set 25-22.
• Neither team found an edge early in the second set as the score was dead even to the 13^th point for each squad. R-MC busted out for a 5-0 run though to take an 18-13 lead. The Blue Jays scored a pair in a row, but R-MC scored seven of the final eight to win 25-16. Freshman James Manning (Glen Allen, Va. / Glen Allen) had a pair of kills in the final sequence with Gibson adding one and Sampson adding a service ace.  
• The Yellow Jackets fought to take a two-point lead in the early stages of the third set. That was where the score would stay for much of the frame, though R-MC did get out by four at 16-12. The Blue Jays came back to tie the set at 20-20, but R-MC scored a 5-2 run to close the set and win 25-22. Senior Lee Olenyik (Mechanicsville, Va. / Hanover) had the final three kills of the frame.
• Randolph-Macon used the momentum to grab the advantage in the fourth set. After giving up a lone point, Gibson put R-MC in front with a kill and a service ace. Sophomore Scotty Carter (Virginia Beach, Va. / Frank W. Cox) added a kill and three straight errors by the Blue Jays had Randolph-Macon ahead 6-2. Elizabethtown got as close as two early on, but R-MC got a 6-1 run to help put the set and the match away. The Blue Jays would get as close as two in the final stages, but R-MC got a final run to win 25-20.

Inside The Numbers

• Besides Gibson's 19 kills, R-MC got 11 kills from Olenyik and six from sophomore Dayne Iverson (Virginia Beach, Va. / Frank W. Cox). Iverson was second on the team for hitting percentage tonight, collecting a .462 kill rate.
• Manning led the team with 44 assists, one off the program-high.
• Sampson's five blocks was a team-high. Olenyik had three as well.
• Freshman Jarrett Carrano (Beaverdam, Va. / Patrick Henry) led the team defensively with 18 digs. Gibson added 12 and freshman Daniel Nguyen (Glen Allen, Va. / Glen Allen) had 10 digs.
• Nguyen also led the team with two service aces.
• The Yellow Jackets hit .355 in the second set and .321 in the third set. Manning had a .833 hitting percentage on six attacks, making no errors and grabbing five kills.

Up Next

The Yellow Jackets will be back in action tomorrow at Juniata. The match begins at 1:00 PM and will be another CVC match.