ATLANTA, Ga. – In the first round of the SCAC Tournament Friday afternoon, No. 7 seed Millsaps rallied from two sets down to force a decisive fifth set against tournament host and No. 10 seed Oglethorpe University, a team the Majors defeated 3-0 earlier this season, only to drop the match 3-2.
Millsaps, now 15-17 overall, fell behind early in the first set 5-1 as Oglethorpe played outstanding defense to force a timeout from head coach Jaime Burns. Out of the timeout, freshman \#Raven Scott\# put away a kill to get the serve back for the Majors.
Errors by Millsaps gave the Stormy Petrels a 9-3 advantage until a Majors' sideout. Oglethorpe continued its pressure and earned a 17-7 lead forcing another Millsaps timeout. The Stormy Petrels took command of the set after the timeout as they increased their lead to 21-8.
Senior \#Amanda Cain\# served two aces as Millsaps fought its way back into the match, but Oglethorpe proved too strong as they closed out the first set 25-16 for a 1-0 set lead.
After falling behind early in the second set, Millsaps tied the score 6-6 with a kill from sophomore \#Heather Keenan\# and took its first lead of the match following a block by Scott and junior \#Victoria Romano\#.
Neither team was able to generate any momentum after this as the lead changed six times until the Stormy Petrels went on a 7-0 scoring run to take a 19-13 lead that sophomore \#Kasey Laird\# ended with a kill.
Miscommunication by Millsaps gave Oglethorpe some breathing room as they took a commanding 22-14 lead, but hitting errors by the Stormy Petrels and a kill from Keenan got the Majors back into the set 22-18.
However, the lead was too much to overcome for Millsaps and Oglethorpe gained an imposing 2-0 set lead as they finished off the second set 25-20.
\#Kate Hall\# got the Majors on the board first in the third set with a kill, but the Stormy Petrels put up three points of their own to take the lead. After a kill by \#Maggie Tumminello\# tied the set 3-3, \#Dixie Krauss\# served an ace and Millsaps gained a 6-3 advantage.
The Majors maintained a slight lead as the set continued, but the Stormy Petrels went on a 4-0 run to tie the score 16-16 forcing a timeout by Millsaps. The teams continued to trade points and the score was tied again, this time at 22-22.
A kill from Hall and a serving error by Oglethorpe gave Millsaps a set point that they promptly won to prolong the match down two sets to one.
Millsaps fell behind quickly in the fourth set 5-0, but rebounded to tie the score 5-5 after a service ace by junior \#Erica Cook\# and back-to-back blocks from Romano and Scott.
Kills from Tumminello, Laird, and Scott gave the Majors an 8-7 lead and junior \#Hailey Miranda\# served an ace to increase the lead to 12-8. Tumminello and Hall then had successive kills as Millsaps earned a 15-9 advantage.
Solid blocking and another ace from Cook enlarged the lead to 21-12 and Miranda closed the set 25-15 with another ace of her own to force a fifth and decisive set.
Oglethorpe again started out quick as they opened a 5-3 lead in the fifth set. The Majors responded with kills by Keenan and Hall to close the gap 6-5, but the Stormy Petrels won the next two points for an 8-6 advantage as the teams switch sides of the court.
Another kill by Hall, who finished the match with a team-leading 15, and a kill from Romano even the score 9-9 forcing an Oglethorpe timeout.
Cook served her third ace of the match as Millsaps took an 11-9 lead, but the Petrels charged back and won the next six points to win the set 15-11 to finish the match 3-2.
Krauss led the Millsaps defense with 26 digs and junior \#Mallory Clark\# finished with a team-high 21 set assists to help the offense.
The Majors will be back on the court tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. EST as they look to rebound from today's loss against Sewanee-University of the South. The winner will meet Hendrix College at 1:30 p.m.
