Salisbury, NC -- The JWU Wildcat Volleyball Team visited Livingstone College for Livingstone's annual tournament on September 5 and 6.  On Friday night, the Wildcats matched up with Concordia College, and then the team returned on Saturday afternoon to face Morris College and the host team to round out the schedule.

The team's first match against Concordia College started out well for the Wildcats.  Coming off an impressive 3-0 win on Thursday night, the team looked ready to repeat, easily beating Concordia 25-13 in the opening set.  The tides turned for the Wildcats though, and they dropped the last three sets by scores of 20-25, 23-25, and 15-25.  The team could not seem to find an answer for aggressive hitting from Concordia and was unable to overcome several unforced errors.  The Wildcats were led by Kylie Marquardt with 12 kills and Hailey Thrift with 21 assists and 3 service aces.  Summer Meredith (23 digs) and Lucy Herrmann (4 blocks) bolstered the Wildcat defense.

The Wildcats returned Saturday to compete with familiar opponent Morris College.  The Wildcats have swept the Hornets in consecutive seasons, and they got the win against them once again.  JWU won the match in straight sets, with scores of 25-13, 25-14, and 25-15.  Kylie Marquardt led the Wildcats once again with 13 kills, 3 service aces, and a .375 hitting percentage.  Hailey Thrift distributed 24 assists and served 3 aces in the victory, and Summer Meredith added 10 digs.

The last match of the tournament saw JWU battle it out with the host team, Livingstone College.  JWU swept Livingstone last season for the first time in school history in 2013, and the Blue Bears seemed to remember that coming into the match.  Livingstone brought a very aggressive block and a quick defense to the match, and that posed problems for the JWU offense.  Livingstone took the first two sets with scores of 17-25 and 15-25.  The Wildcats rebounded to take the third set 25-20, but Livingstone was able to avoid a fifth set by closing out the match 20-25 in the fourth set.  Kylie Marquardt had 11 kills and 18 digs for the Wildcats, and Hailey Thrift had 22 assists.  Lucy Herrmann added 7 service aces and 3.5 blocks.

The Wildcats (5-5) will be next be in action on September 9 for their home opener in the Student Center against in-town rival Johnson C. Smith.  Come out and support your volleyball team as they try to make it 7 straight against the Golden Bulls.  The match begins at 7:00 PM, and the Wildcats will be at home again on September 11 against St. Andrews University at 7:00 PM.