ATHENS, OHIO - The Villanova volleyball team split its two matches today, with the Wildcats defeating Ohio tonight in straight sets, after being swept by #22 Western Kentucky earlier today.

Villanova (2-1, 0-0 BIG EAST) had strong performances from sophomore middle blocker Amanda Pedersen-Henry (Murrieta, Calif./Vista Murrieta) and Allie Loitz (Bonita, Calif./ Bonita Vista) in all three matches as they both earned a spot on the all-tournament team.

Loitz had 39 kills, averaging 4.33 kills per set, along with 31 digs during Villanova's three games at the Bobcat Invitational to open the 2016 season.

Pedersen-Henry had 29 kills and eight blocks during the three games. She had a .467 hitting percentage against Ohio, with eight kills on 15 attempts, and nearly went errorless in the match.

The Wildcats will head to the west coast to face #7 Washington, Seattle University, and the Idaho Vandals next weekend in Seattle, Washington.

2016 Bobcat Invitational All-Tournament Team

Tournament MVP: Alyssa Cavanaugh, Western Kentucky

Sydney Engle, Western Kentucky

Rachel Anderson, Western Kentucky

Allie Lotiz, Villanova

Amanda Pedersen-Henry, Villanova

Lizzie Stephens, Ohio

Ciara DeBell, Florida Gulf Coast

GAME 2: #22 Western Kentucky defeats Villanova, 3-0
BOX SCORE

The Villanova Wildcats volleyball team suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of #22 Western Kentucky, 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-22). The Wildcats often kept the match close with the nationally-ranked opponent, but the Lady Toppers (2-0) ultimately bested the `Cats near the end of every set.

Sophomore middle blocker Amanda Pedersen-Henry led the offensive attack with a career-high 15 kills, including nine in the third set to give the Wildcats an early advantage.

Outside hitters Claire Crutchfield (Falls Church, Va./Bishop O'Connell) and junior outside hitter Allie Loitz each added eight kills on the day for the Wildcats.

Western Kentucky started the match hot, winning five of the first six points to take a 5-1 lead early in the first set. Villanova would keep it close, with several kills by Loitz and Pedersen-Henry to narrow the gap at 13-10. WKU would respond with an 8-2 run to set up a 21-12 advantage.

After a timeout, the Wildcats would battle back with a 9-2 run of their own with two kills from Pedersen-Henry and Claire Crutchfield to close the gap to 23-21. However, the Lady Toppers would finish the set strong to prevent a Villanova comeback, as the Wildcats dropped the first set 25-21

The second set started nearly identical to the first, with the Lady Toppers taking an early 4-1 lead, but Villanova struck back quickly, to make it a 4-3 score in favor of Western Kentucky. The Lady Toppers would go on a 5-2 run, and immediately the Wildcats responded with 4-1 run with Loitz and Crutchfield kills to narrow the WKU lead to 11-9.

After Allie Olsonoski (New Orleans, La./Ben Franklin) earned a kill to cut the Wildcat deficit to one at 16-15, the Lady Toppers would go on a 5-0 run for a 21-15 advantage. The Wildcats would not back down, attempting a comeback as they pulled within two points on 4-1 run to make it a close 22-20 match. However, WKU would win three of the final four points to win set two, 25-21.

Pedersen-Henry was on fire to start the third set to give the Wildcat offense a boost, with four kills in the first five points of the third set for Villanova as they took a 7-2 lead early. The Lady Toppers would slowly climb back in to the set, as they trailed the Wildcats at 16-11. A set-changing 10-4 run would give Western Kentucky a 21-20 lead late. Villanova would tie the third set at 22, but WKU would earn the last three points to complete the match.

Today's match marked the first time in nearly a calendar year that an opponent swept the Wildcats in a regular-season matchup. Penn State swept Villanova 363 days ago on August 29, 2015.

BOX SCORE

After being swept by #22 Western Kentucky earlier this afternoon, the Villanova Wildcats responded with a sweep of their own against Ohio tonight (25-10, 25-11, 25-10). The Wildcats (2-1, 0-0 BIG EAST) dominated the first two sets of the match before the Bobcats went back-and-forth with the Wildcats the entire third set.

Allie Loitz had her second double-double performance of the tournament (16 kills, 12 digs), and had at least five kills in every set. Amanda Pedersen-Henry nearly went errorless the entire match as she had a hitting percentage of .467 in the contest. The Wildcats as a whole hit .339 during the match.

Outside hitters Claire Crutchfield and freshman Remy Fairchild (Southlake, Texas/Southlake Carroll Senior) both had an impressive match, with 11 and nine kills, respectively. Fairchild's .400 hitting percentage (min. 10 attempts) was second best on the team.

Emma Decker (Chicago, Ill./Nazareth Academy) had her best game of the tournament, dishing out 43 assists in the match.

The Wildcats as a defense had their best game of the tournament, holding the Bobcats to just a .046 hitting percentage. In the second set alone, Ohio could only muster a -0.43 hitting percentage. Allison Fitzgerald had double-figures in digs for the third-straight game with 15 to lead the defense.

Villanova dominated in the serve column with eight service-aces on the day, with Ashley Knight (Omaha, Neb./Elkhorn South) serving up a team-high three aces.

Coach Josh Steinbach was happy with the road victory over the 2015 MAC Champions and NCAA Tournament team.

"We played two very clean sets of volleyball and served extremely tough," said Steinbach. "Getting road wins against any team is good, but against a program that has been as good as Ohio has been over the past decade means a lot."

The Wildcats started the match on fire on a 6-2 run with two kills from Decker and Loitz, along with a kill from Fairchild and Allie Olsonoski. The Bobcats could not get keep up with the Wildcats offense, as Villanova went on seperate 3-0, 6-0, and 7-0 runs throughout the first set to give the Wildcats an insurmountable 20-8 advantage. The Bobcats would tally two more points in the set, as Villanova took the first set 25-10.

The second set was just as dominant for Villanova. Loitz, Pedersen-Henry, and Crutchfield combined for 14 of the 18 kills that the Wildcats had in set two. After an Ohio timeout, the Bobcats would claw back to 8-11 deficit, but Villanova would go on a 13-3 run to finish off the Bobcats.

The third set was very competitive, and Ohio would take its first lead of the match at 6-5 after a Villanova attack error. The team's would trade points, until Crutchfield and Loitz would get back-to-back kills, and Loitz also added an ace to force an Ohio timeout with the score at 16-13 in favor of the Wildcats. Villanova would keep Ohio in check, and a Loitz' kill on match point would end Ohio's chances at a comeback to complete the three-match sweep at 25-20.