(ASHLAND, Va.) – Second-seeded Randolph-Macon advanced to the semifinals of the ODAC Tournament after an impressive win over No. 7 Roanoke on Wednesday evening. The Yellow Jackets will now prep for a second match with No. 3 Virginia Wesleyan who defeated No. 6 Eastern Mennonite in four sets.

Grace Parker (Jr., Andover, N.J. / Pope John XXIII) had an incredible match with her fifth match of the year with over 20 kills. The front line also did well in limiting one of the ODAC's top hitters in Linsey Bailey to just six kills.

The Basics

Score: No. 2 Randolph-Macon 3, No. 7 Roanoke 1 (25-16, 25-11, 22-25, 25-15)

Records: No. 2 Randolph-Macon 18-9, No. 7 Roanoke 12-19

How It Happened

• The beginning of the first set saw both teams go blow for blow. After a timeout, the Yellow Jackets switched it into high gear and scored six of the next seven points to take a 17-13 lead. The Maroons kept the game within five until the last stretch when the Lemon and Black scored the final five points for the 25-16 win.
• Game 2 looked similar to the first in the early going with neither team stringing together three consecutive points until RMC went up 12-8 on the momentum from a Parker kill and a block by Parker and Sydney Koch (Sr., Raleigh, N.C. / Sanderson). This time Roanoke called timeout, but shortly after play resumed RMC went on a 11-0 run thanks to six kills by Parker to put the game out of reach and give the hosts a 2-0 lead.
• Randolph-Macon held a 15-9 lead in the third before Roanoke caught fire en route to its lone win of the match. After a 13-2 run, the Jackets clawed back with the next three points on a Parker kill, Danielle LaRosa (Sr., Charlottesville, Va. / Albemarle) and Megan Bost (So., Angier, N.C. / West Johnston) block, and an ace by Macguire Gubba (Sr., Grove City, Pa. / Grove City). The Maroons were able to stave off the comeback with three of the next five points.
• Not wanting to go to a fifth, the Jackets came out on fire and never trailed in the fourth. Another block by Gubba and Koch gave RMC a 19-7 lead, its largest of the set. The Maroons could only cut the deficit back to seven before the Jackets closed out the match with a kill by LaRosa, kill by Gracyn Draney (Jr., Forest, Va. / Jefferson Forest), and an error by Roanoke.

Inside The Numbers

• Parker was a force all night and totaled 25 kills on 48 attempts with a hitting percentage of .396. Ten of them alone came in the second set. She got the job done on the receiving end too with 11 digs.
• Leslie Currie (So., Mechanicsville, Va. / Hanvoer) led the team with 16 digs.
• The Jackets limited Bailey to just six kills on 33 attempts and a hitting percentage of -.091. She entered the contest second in the ODAC with 333 kills and fourth in kills per set at 3.43.
• RMC allowed the Maroons to construct a run of two or more points just once in the first set and twice in the second.
• The Jackets defense blocked 11 attempts total. LaRosa was responsible for most of them as she rejected one by herself and assisted on seven others. Draney went up for four as well.

Up Next

The Yellow Jackets will host Virginia Wesleyan on Friday.