(ATLANTA) – Danielle LaRosa (Sr., Charlottesville, Va. / Albemarle) and Grace Parker (Jr., Andover, N.J. / Pope John XXIII) each had 14 kills for Randolph-Macon, but it wasn't enough to knock off No. 14 Berry in the first match of the Emory National Invitational Friday.

The Yellow Jackets were able to take the second set and led for part of the third, but the Vikings came back to take the set and win the fourth to take the set between the two regional powers.

The Basics

Score: Randolph-Macon 1, No. 14 Berry 3 (25-17, 15-25, 28-26, 25-14) – at Emory University

Venue: Woodruff Center

Records: Randolph-Macon 16-8, No. 14 Berry 20-2

How It Happened

• Berry jumped out to an early lead in the first set and led the entire way. The Yellow Jackets attempted a late rally and scored four out of five points to close the score to 24-17 thanks to a LaRosa block and kills by both Gracyn Draney (Jr., Forest, Va. / Jefferson Forset) and Macguire Gubba (Sr., Grove City, Pa. / Grove City), but the Vikings took the next point to take the set.
• The second set went the opposite way as RMC caught fire. A kill by Parker gave them the Jackets their largest lead of the night at 22-11. A LaRosa kill and a block by LaRosa and Madison Warlick (Sr., Charlottesville, Va. / Albemarle) evened the match at one set each.
• The third set ended up being a marathon that saw the Jackets jump out to a lead only to see Berry fight its way back. A LaRosa kill gave the Jackets a 17-10 lead, but Berry proceeded to score the next five points and eventually tie the set at 22-all before taking the lead. RMC scored to tie the set each time with its next three points before Berry closed it out at 28-26.
• The fourth set appeared to be going the same way as both teams battled each other pretty evenly through the first 16 points and were tied at 8-8. The Vikings then went on a 7-0 run to take control of the set en route to the set and match win.

Inside The Numbers

• LaRosa had an impressive game with 14 kills on 26 attempts with one error for a hitting percentage of .500. She added three blocks, one of which was solo, to lead the team up front defensively.
• Leslie Currie (So., Mechanicsville, Va. / Hanover) led the team defensively on the receiving end with 29 digs.
• Gubba set up the attack with 36 assists.
• The Vikings were led by Molly Bergin who had 14 kills.

Up Next

The Yellow Jackets close out the regular season with two matches on Saturday. They'll go up against Birmingham-Southern in another matchup between two regionally ranked teams before closing out the day with Hendrix.