The Gilmour Academy varsity volleyball team competed in a prestigious regular season tournament this past weekend and walked away with a third-place finish.
The Lancers took third at the Columbus Invitational, held at FieldhouseUSA in the state's capital. Nine of the 11 teams competing in the event were ranked among the top 20 in the state at the Division I or II level, with six of the nine residing among the top 10 in the rankings.
Before Gilmour went to the weekend event, the Lancers traveled to Magnificat High School for a standalone midweek match.
Although the Blue Streaks were ranked eighth in the state in Division I entering the match, Gilmour tallied a three-game sweep of its hosts. Gilmour won the match 25-21, 30-28, 25-19. The second set featured an incredible comeback for the Lancers as they trailed by 10 points in the early going but posted a furious rally to grab the set.
Gilmour then headed south for its weekend tournament, beginning the event with two pool-play matches Friday evening.
The Lancers cruised to a 2-0 win (25-11, 25-15) in their opening match of the event against St. Ursula Academy (Toledo), a team ranked 14th in Division I.
Gilmour hit at an impressive .396 clip for the match, racking up 23 kills on 53 attempts with just two errors.
Kathryn Randorf '22 led the way with nine kills on 15 attempts, hitting .600 for the match, while also adding three digs, two blocks and an ace. Sabrina Gremm '22 and Anna Rarick '23 each had four kills and hit above .400 for the match. Gremm added two aces and two digs while Rarick posted four digs.
Ella Jackson '25 tallied 19 assists and seven digs against the Arrows while Laney Klika '23 also had seven digs. Kayla Channell '25 had a team-high four blocks and also had three kills on six attempts.
Gilmour had to work much harder in its second match Friday, as it pulled out a 2-1 win (25-23, 18-25, 25-20) over Olentangy Orange High School, the sixth-ranked team in Division I.
Randorf produced a double-double, leading the Lancers in both kills (13) and digs (10). Rarick hit a team-high .412 in the match, putting down seven kills without an error, and also had a team-high three aces.
Jackson contributed 31 assists along with five digs in the win against the Pioneers. Gremm added eight kills and seven digs while Channell had a team-high three blocks along with four kills.
Gilmour's 2-0 performance in pool play advanced it to the Gold bracket for the tournament's final day.
In its semifinal match, Gilmour faced Olentangy Liberty High School, the third-ranked team in Division I. The Patriots would go on to claim a four-set win over the Lancers (25-21, 18-25, 25-21, 28-26).
Randorf was not too far off from a triple double as she had 18 kills, nine digs and eight blocks in the losing effort. Channell had eight kills and hit .462 while Gremm posted 12 kills.
Jackson was just shy of a double-double, notching 37 assists and nine digs while Klika tallied a team-best 15 digs. Both players also tied for team high honors with four aces apiece.
Gilmour then had a rematch in the third-place bout as it faced off against Olentangy Orange again. This match was best-of-five sets as opposed to best-of-three the day prior, but it made no difference. Gilmour would claim a 3-1 victory (17-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-20) over the Pioneers to end the event on a high note.
Randorf led the way in GA's fourth match of the weekend with an incredibly efficient offensive effort. She had 19 kills on 28 attempts and hit .571 for the match. She also added eight digs, six blocks and an ace.
Gremm was the second in kills with 13, hitting .360 for the match, while Channell had eight kills and hit .313.
Jackson posted 38 assists, six digs and three blocks while Klika had team highs in digs (9) and aces (3) for the match.
After it posted four wins over ranked Division I opponents last week, Gilmour retained the No. 1 ranking in Division II when the Ohio coaches poll was released this week.
The Lancers will close out the month with a single match this week against Archbishop Hoban High School.