The Gilmour Academy varsity volleyball team continued its successful start to the season this past week by winning each of the four matches it contested.
The Lancers began the week with a standalone match against Padua Franciscan High School, the Division I state runner-up last season, before hosting the eight-team Lancer Invitational this past weekend.
The matchup at Padua was a noteworthy one for Gilmour as it came against the only team that beat the Lancers during GA's state championship run a year ago. The Lancers were able to exact a measure of revenge this time around, taking down the Bruins in a four-set affair.
After the Lancers and Bruins split the opening two sets by nearly identical scores (25-21, 22-25), Gilmour picked it up a level and closed out the match without too much drama (25-18, 25-19).
A trio of Lancers led the offense against the Bruins, with Kathryn Randorf '22, Sabrina Gremm '22 and Anna Rarick '23 putting down the vast majority of the kills.
Randorf led the way and was one of three Lancers to register a double-double in the match. She topped Gilmour in kills (18), aces (5) and block (7) and was also second on the team with 20 digs.
Gremm posted 15 kills and 10 digs while Rarick had 12 kills and led the Lancers with her .367 hitting percentage.
Ella Jackson '25 orchestrated the offense and also chipped in on the defensive end as she finished with 42 assists and 11 digs.
Laney Klika '22 posted a team-high 22 digs while Brooke Clair '22 added 11 digs against the Bruins.
The win over Padua was the first in five tries for the current Gilmour senior class.
After a few days off, Gilmour returned home for a busy day of volleyball. Eight teams each played three matches during the afternoon, and it was the Lancers that came out on top of the field.
Gilmour began its day with a 25-10, 25-21 win over Riverside High School.
Maria Flynn '24 led the team with seven kills against the Beavers, which came on 15 attempts. Both Ella Barnhart '23 and Mi-Na Diggs '25 tallied four kills on five attempts with the former adding four digs.
Gilmour had nine aces in the two-set match, with Klika leading the way with four. Lucia Martino '24 notched 20 assists and four digs to help the GA cause.
Gilmour came out on fire in its semifinal match against Kenston High School, winning the opening 13 points of the match. The Lancers would go on to post a 25-7, 25-19 victory over the Bombers to advance to the championship match.
The Lancers hit at an incredible .442 clip as a team against the Bombers, putting down 25 kills with just two errors.
Kayla Channell '25 had a team-high eight kills, on just 10 attempts, while Randorf had seven kills, on 11 swings, as neither player had an error during the match. Randorf also had nine digs against Kenston.
Jackson was the primary distributor to the highly-efficient attack, tallying 19 assists along with four digs. Klika had a team-best 11 digs in the match along with a pair of aces.
The championship match saw the Lancers matched up against Lake Catholic High School, a team that Gilmour had beaten in its second match of the season.
Gilmour would claim its second win over the Cougars this season to claim the tournament title. The Lancers cruised to a first-set win (25-15) before coming out on top in a tight, back-and-forth second set (27-25).
Randorf led the way in the tournament final, posting a team-high 10 kills along with five digs, two blocks, two assists and an ace. She hit .429 for the match, only committing one hitting error.
Channell had four kills on nine attempts without an error and also had a team-best three blocks.
Gremm and Jackson tied for team-high honors with seven digs. The former added six kills while the latter contributed 21 assists.
Randorf was named as the Tournament MVP while Klika was tabbed to the All-Tournament Team.
After hosting its tournament, Gilmour will spend the rest of the month on the road, including back-to-back weekend trips to Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio.
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