Wentworth, NC -- The Johnson & Wales Wildcat Volleyball Team opened its 2014 season at the Haley Jo Plummer Classic at Rockingham Community College.  The Wildcats first competed in pool play, scheduled to battle each of the other teams in attendance.

The first match of the day was against the home team, Rockingham Community College.  It was the first match of the season for each team.  JWU got off to a quick JWU start with solid play at the net and jumped out to a 4-1 lead.  Solid defense held Rockingham in check, and the Wildcats extended their lead to 10-3.  Demonstrating outstanding court coverage,  the Wildcats kept rolling to an 18-4 cushion with even scoring coming from all positions. The defense held strong again, and the Wildcats closed out the game 25-9.  Game 2 saw an even start at 3-3 with errors at the net by both teams.  The Wildcats recovered and took control of the match at 10-4.  By taking advantage of some defensive errors by Rockingham, the Wildcats pushed their lead to 18-8.  Rockingham went on a 6-2 run to pull within 6 points at 20-14, but the Wildcats recovered and took Game 2 and the match with a score of 25-14.  Lucy Herrmann led the Wildcats with 6 kills, while Hailey Thrift had 14 assists, and Reanna Bray had 3 solo blocks.

The second match for the Wildcats came in the afternoon after the lunch break against familar foe Lenoir Community College.  The Wildcats started off strong, taking a 3-1 lead after capitalizing on some Lenoir errors.  They then succombed to a 11-3 run by Lenoir, exacerbated by poor JWU communication.  After some more hitting errors,  the Wildcats were able to regroup and close the Lenoir lead to 4 at 14-10.  After some great defense by both teams, Lenoir held onto their lead and closed the game 25-19.  In Game 2, the Wildcats came out swinging and again took a 3-1 lead.  Behind the serving of Hailey Thrift, the Wildcats extended their lead  to 6-1.  Lenoir's frontline attack came alive, and the Wildcats' lead was relinquished when Lenoir overtook them 13-12.  Lenoir continued with strong service and defense to push their lead forward.  The Wildcats were able to cut the to 3 at 20-17, but Lenoir proved too strong in the end and took Game 2 by the score of 25-19.  Kylie Marquardt led the attack for the Wildcats with 9 kills.  Hailey Thrift added 17 service points, 1 service ace, and 7 assists.

Next up for the Wildcats was the junior varsity team from St. Andrews University.  The Wildcats got off to a bit of a slow start and yielded a few points due to errors, but they were able to take control at the next and take a 7-4 lead.  Solid team defense and excellent serving from Summer Meredith helped push the lead to 7 at 15-8.  The Wildcats withstood a brief run from St. Andrews and were able to cruise to a 25-13 victory behind strong serving from Hailey Thrift.  Both teams came out aggressively to start Game 2, and the Wildcats held a slim lead at 7-5.  Kylie Marquardt and Lucy Herrmann fueled a strong Wildcat attack and helped the team build a 20-9 lead.  The team held fast at the net and pushed through to a 25-11 final score to take the match 2-0.  Kylie Marquardt led JWU with 10 kills while Hailey Thrift had 17 assists and 2 service aces.  

After finishing 2-1 in pool play, the Wildcats wrapped up the #2 seed entering the semifinal round and drew the host team for a rematch of the day's first competition.  The Wildcats jumped out to 5-0 lead forcing a Rockingham timeout.  After some aggressive play at the net by both teams, JWU held the lead at 12-7.  Rockingham was able to pull even with the Wildcats, but a 9-1 run behind some strong defense and a balanced offensive attack helped the Wildcats close out the game 25-16.  In Game 2, the Wildcats jumped out again to a 6-0 lead with Samantha Johnson serving.  Rockingham's defense helped them pull within 3 to 7-4, but the Wildcats stayed aggressive on offense and pushed the lead back out to 10 at 15-5.  JWU closed out the game 25-13 to reach the championship match.  Summer Meredith keyed the Wildcat defense with 12 digs, and Kylie Marquardt led the offense with 9 kills with Hailey Thrift contributing 15 assists, 4 kills and 2 service aces.

The final match of the day was the championship match of the tournament.  The Wildcats again faced Lenoir Community College in an exciting battle.  The Wildcats jumped on Lenoir from the beginning and jumped out to an early lead behind the net play of Lucy Herrmann.  The Wildcats were able to exploit some gaps in the Lenoir defense and pushed their initial lead to finish out the first game 25-19.  Lenoir recovered quickly and found their offensive power in the second game, capitalizing on their athletic net play.  They overwhelmed the Wildcats in Game 2 and took it by a score of 25-14.  One win by each team set the stage for a thrilling final set.  The Wildcats jumped ahead in the short final set and was the first to reach 8 points as the teams switched sides.  The Wildcats continued their balanced attacking, but Lenoir was able to place some kills to pull themselves even with the Wildcats at 12.  It was a back and forth battle for both teams, but a few costly errors let the last two points slip from the Wildcats, and they were forced to settle for the runner-up trophy after falling to Lenoir 16-14 in the third set.  Lucy Herrmann (10) and Kylie Marquardt (11) boh tallied double figures in kills in the championship match, while Summer Meredith anchored the defense with 14 digs, and Hailey Thrift had 21 assists and 2 service aces.

While a 2nd-place finish was not the goal for the Wildcats, they certainly showed a lot of promise, heart, determination, and improvement throughout their matches.  Many elements of their game will improve as the season progresses, and the Wildcats are looking forward to a very competitive schedule this season.  The team would like to thank the members of the Cat Pack who traveled to the game to cheer the team on.  The Wildcats' next match is August 27 at Catawba Valley Community College at 6:00 PM, and the team opens at home on September 9 at 7:00 PM.