(ASHLAND, Va.) – The Randolph-Macon men's volleyball team picked up its first victories of the season with a 3-0 sweep over Eastern Mennonite in the opener before a 3-1 victory in the night cap.

The Basics

Score:

Game 1: Randolph-Macon 3, Eastern Mennonite 0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-15)
Game 2: Randolph-Macon 3, Eastern Mennonite 1 (23-25, 25-12, 25-19, 25-19)

Location / Venue: Ashland Va. / Crenshaw Gym.

Records: R-MC 2-3, 2-2 CVC; EMU 1-3, 1-3 CVC

How It Happened – Match 1

• The Jackets jumped appeared to have the momentum from the start as they jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the opening set and never looked back. They led by as many as 11 on a few occasions, the first of which came at 18-7 after an ace by Jarrett Carrano (So., Beaverdam, Va. / Patrick Henry).
• The second set saw the Royals battle more and even lead 10-7 midway, but R-MC took control with a 7-0 run to put the hosts up for good. A balanced offense helped as Carrano and Scotty Carter (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va. / Frank W. Cox) tied the game with three consecutive kill to spark the rally.
• The Royals pulled within three a few times, but the Jackets closed the set with four of the final five points.
• Game 3 was more like the first as R-MC jumped out to a 6-0 lead.
• The lead extended to 12 after Gio DeLuca (Fr., Glen Allen, Va. / Glen Allen) served an ace and followed it up with a kill to put the score at 19-7.

Inside The Numbers

• Kolby Gibson (So., Bumpass, Va. / Louisa) led the attack with nine kills on 16 attempts for a hitting percentage of .375. Carter trailed him by one with eight kills.
• Cade Terrell (Fr., Glen Allen, Va. / Deep Run) dished out 22 assists.
• Digs were by committed as eight players came up with all of them. Connor Logan (Jr., Montpelier, Va. / Patrick Henry) and Gibson led the team with five each.

How It Happened – Match 2

• The second match took a little more work as the Royals came out strong in the opening game and were able to slip by with a 25-23 victory. It was close throughout as neither team held a lead larger than four the entire time.
• The Jackets returned to form in the second and jumped out to an early 11-5 lead. They got stronger as the game went on and finished strong with nine of the last 11 points scored.
• The third set went back to being close in the early going. The swing came with a five-point rally started by a Carrano kill that put the Jackets up 14-10.
• Another five-point rally allowed some more separation later at 20-13. Lenny Sampson, Jr. served two of his three aces in the match during this rally.
• A pair of Carter kills sandwiched between a Royals service error and a Gibson kill created some separation in the final set at 14-10. R-MC was able to hold on the rest of the way despite EMU keeping it close.

Inside The Numbers

• The 25-12 win in the second set was the largest differential of any set on the day.
• Gibson led the attack with 12 kills. Carrano joined him in double-digits with 11.
• Terrell assisted on 37 kills.
• Gibson and Carrano also led the team in digs with each picking up eight.
• Daniel Nguyen (So., Glen Allen, Va. / Glen Allen) was a force behind the line as he served up four in the second match.

Up Next

• If these teams weren't familiar with each other by the end of today, they will be next week. This time it's Randolph-Macon's turn to travel and the Jackets will head to Harrisonburg to take on Eastern Mennonite in another twin bill.