LYNCHBURG, Va. – In a tightly contested Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) contest on the road, the Bridgewater Eagles volleyball team tried to rally from a 2-0 deficit but couldn't overcome a number of late-match errors as the Eagles fell to the Randolph WildCats by a 3-1 tally on Wednesday evening.

Junior Megann Grimes was impressive on the evening tallying a game-high 19 kills to pace the Bridgewater offense, while senior Katie Long added 14 kills to put a pair of players in double figures.

The first set started with both teams trading points early on before a big run from the WildCats allowed Randolph to build a 9-4 advantage early. Freshman Abby Mills tallied a kill to open a three-point run for the Eagles as Bridgewater cut the lead to 9-7, but Randolph responded again and used a big run to take a 19-10 lead late in the set.  

After the run from the WildCats, Bridgewater went on the attack, scoring 10 of the next 12 points to trim the Randolph lead to a manageable 21-20 tally. During the stretch, the Eagles got kills from four different players, including two kills from Rachel Donaldson, while the WildCats committed a number of miscues to help allow Bridgewater back into the set. Both teams traded points again before back-to-back kills from Long knotted the set up at 23 points each.

The set remained tied at 24 until a Bridgewater service error and a Celine Rhodes kill gave Randolph the first set by a 26-24 margin.

Set number two started differently as it was Bridgewater jumping out to the early advantage by a 3-1 score. The Eagles maintained a lead at 4-3 tally before three straight Randolph points put the WildCats up by a 6-4 tally. Bridgewater kept the set close throughout, maintaining a two-point differential before six unanswered points from the WildCats effectively put the set away with Randolph owning a 19-12 advantage.

Bridgewater answered by capitalizing on a pair of Randolph errors, and kills from Donaldson and Kristen Trice to cut the lead to 19-16 but it was as close as the Eagles would get as the WildCats eventually pulled away to a 25-21 victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set remained close through the set's first eight points before Bridgewater capitalized on three Randolph miscues to help rattle off four straight points as the Eagles built an 8-4 lead, forcing a WildCats timeout. Out of the timeout, Randolph slowly worked the Bridgewater lead to a single point, 10-9, but the Eagles responded again with a kill from Megan Lookabaugh, a service ace from Mara Hogan and a Grimes kill as Bridgewater pushed its lead to 13-9.

Bridgewater maintained a three-point lead at a 20-17 tally late in the set, and held off a Randolph run that cut the lead to two on a pair of occasions but a WildCats attack error late in the set handed the Eagles a 25-22 victory in a tightly contested set.

In the evening's fourth set, Randolph built a 3-1 lead, but it was short lived as kills from Hogan and Grimes tied the set up at a 3-3 tally in the early goings. The WildCats used a three-point run to gain a slight advantage before the Eagles struck back quickly off of kills from Mills and Donaldson and a Randolph setting error to knot the set up at seven points each.

Following a pair of points for the WildCats, Bridgewater answered with three consecutive points to take a slim 10-9 lead. Donaldson and Lindsay Kallam each tallied kills during the run, while Mills added a service ace.

In the middle of the set, the teams traded points in a see-saw affair as the lead changed hands on four different occasions before the game was tied up at 15 points each off of a Grimes kill.

Randolph regained the lead off of a kill before Bridgewater rattled off three unanswered points to take the lead for the first time in the set. Mills bookended the run with kills while Lookabaugh added a kill in the middle to help propel Bridgewater to an 18-16 advantage. Bridgewater built a 20-17 lead before a Randolph point was followed by a Long kill and a Lookabaugh block to put the Eagles out in front 22-18, forcing a Randolph timeout.

Out of the stoppage, the WildCats responded in a big way as Randolph tallied three quick points to trim the Bridgewater lead to 22-21. Long ended the Randolph run with a kill but the WildCats answered back quickly with two straight points to knot the score up at a 23-23 tally late in set number four, forcing Bridgewater to use a timeout.

After a Bridgewater attack error out of the stoppage, Randolph close the set out with a kill to take the set by a 25-23 margin and earn a 3-1 victory in the match.

Grimes and Long led the Bridgewater offense with 19 and 14 kills, respectively, while Lookabaugh and Donaldson each tallied eight kills on the evening. Lookabaugh was impressive, owning a .438 attack percentage, while Donaldson posted a stellar .545 attack percentage to help lead the Eagles to a .242 hitting clip on the evening.

Kallam ran the offense for the Eagles and dished out a game-high 49 assists.

Mills and Hogan were solid on the defensive end tallying 17 and 12 digs, respectively.

Randolph had three players reach double figures in kills with Rhodes' 14 kills leading the way. Kerry McMichael added 27 assists for the WildCats in the win while Jordan Templin led the defense with 17 digs.

Bridgewater is back in action on Friday when it hosts Neumann on day one of the Fall Fever Quad. Opening serve from Nininger Hall is set for 8 p.m.