(HARRISONBURG, Va.) – Randolph-Macon swept the match and seasons series with Eastern Mennonite with a masterful effort by Kolby Gibson (Jr., Bumpass, Va. / Louisa) on Tuesday evening. The junior pounded out 14 kills on 25 attempts for a hitting percentage of .440 as the Yellow Jackets won their first CVC contest of the year.

The Basics

Score: Randolph-Macon 3, Eastern Mennonite 0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-15)

Venue: Yoder Arena

Records: Randolph-Macon 11-3, 1-2 CVC; Eastern Mennonite 2-10, 1-2)

How It Happened

• A balanced offense helped the Yellow Jackets in the first set with four player registering at least two kills. The Lemon and Black started to create some separation midway through the set when a 6-0 run gave them a 19-12 lead. Gio DeLuca (So., Glen Allen, Va. / Glen Allen) started the rally with a kill and he paired with Cade Terrell (So., Glen Allen, Va. / Deep Run) to go up for a block later in the surge.
• After EMU answered with the next three points, the Jackets closed out the opening set with a 6-2 run with four of the points on kills. Jarrett Carrano (Jr., Beaverdam, Va. / Patrick Henry) scored 2.5 of them with a pair of kills and a block with Terrell.
• The Royals came alive in the second and had the Jackets on their heels for most of the frame. EMU jumped out to a 5-0 lead and lead by as many as eight at 13-5 early. Mitchell Wyatt (Fr., Prince George, Va. / Prince George) finally sparked the offense with a kill that put R-MC on a 8-1 rally to get back into the game. A Patrick Lyons (Jr., Henrico, Va. / Mills E. Godwin) kill eventually tied it at 17-all. The Royals were able to go back up 21-18, but a 7-2 charge down the stretch capped by a Sean Cunningham (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va. / Kempsville) kill put R-MC up 2-0.
• In the third, the hosts held a 10-9 lead midway, but it went downhill from there as the Jackets dominated the rest of the way. A Cunningham block gave R-MC the lead for good at 11-10 and was the second point in a 15-5 run to close the match with 10 of the points coming on kills or blocks.

Inside The Numbers

• The 11 wins matches the most for a single season in program history.
• Gibson's 14 kills led the team and are a career-best in three-set matches. He also got the job done on the defensive end with six digs, second most on the team. Terrell led in that department with seven.
• Terrell also led the team with 18 assists and split the setting duties with Manning who totaled 10.
• Eight different Yellow Jackets recorded kills.
• Cunningham once again led the defense up front with five blocks, two of which were solo. Nine different Yellow Jackets recorded blocks on the evening.
• Thanks to the defense, Eastern Mennonite was limited to a .044 hitting percentage. The Royals didn't hit higher than .097 in a single set.
• The Royals were led by Nate McGhee who totaled 11 kills on 33 attempts.

Up Next

The Jackets head to Bluefield for a tri with the Rams that will also include Campbellsville this Saturday. Matches for Randolph-Macon are scheduled for 1:30 and 4 p.m.