Box Score

FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Villanova Wildcats (5-3) picked up two 3-0 wins over James Madison (6-2) and Sacred Heart (3-5) on the first day of the Fairfield Invitational. With the wins, Villanova's winning percentage rises above .500 on the season.

While Villanova swept both opponents, the two victories did not come easy. The Wildcats won each set by an average of just over four points on the day.

Allie Loitz picked her 500th Villanova kill in the first match of the day against James Madison. The junior transfer from Pepperdine accomplished the feat in just 144 matches for the Wildcats. She combined for 23 kills and 16 digs over the two matches today.

The Wildcats will play their final match of the Fairfield Invitational tomorrow against Fairfield at 3:00 pm, and are scheduled to play their home-opener against Lehigh on Tuesday, September 13 at 7:00 pm.

Villanova ââ'¬" 3, James Madison ââ'¬" 0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-19)

For the third-straight season, the Villanova Wildcats (4-3) defeated James Madison (6-2) in non-conference action on Friday. Allie Loitz (Bonita, Calif./Bonita Vista) tallied her 500th Villanova career kill, as the Wildcats swept the Dukes 25-20, 25-20, 25-19 in the opening match of the Fairfield Invitational.

Loitz accounted for 13 kills and 10 digs in the contest, and picked up her 500th kill in the third set from setter Emma Decker (Chicago, Ill./Nazareth Academy) to give the Wildcats a 15-12 lead. The Wildcats would not relinquish the lead, to pick up the 3-0 sweep.

Coach Steinbach thought the team executed the game plan well, while facing a challenging opponent in James Madison.

"We did a great job executing the scouting report on the court, probably the best we have done this season," said Steinbach. "JMU played us tough throughout, but we felt in-control the whole match."

The Villanova defense stymied the JMU offensive attack, holding the Dukes to a .110 attack percentage. CAA Preseason Player of the Year Janey Goodman was held to just a .053 hitting percentage in the match, her second-lowest attack percentage this season.

Decker dished out a total of 36 assists against the Dukes and now has 248 this season. Decker's contributions have not gone unrecognized by the coaching staff.

"Emma Decker's progress as a freshman has been a real positive for our offense," Steinbach continued. "She set well today and gave us an opportunity for successful attacks."

Villanova started slow in the first set, allowing the Dukes to start the match on a 5-1 run. The Wildcats countered immediately with a 5-1 run of their own to tie the match at six apiece. JMU took a small 10-8 lead, but a Villanova 6-0 run featuring kills from Claire Crutchfield (Falls Church, Va./Bishop O'Connell), Amanda Pedersen-Henry (Murrieta, Calif. Vista Murriesta), Decker and Loitz forced a JMU timeout with the score at 14-10 in favor of the Wildcats. The Dukes would knot the score at 15 after the timeout, but a 10-5 Wildcat run gave Villanova a 1-0 lead as they took the first set, 25-20. Regan Lough (Riverside, Calif./Martin Luther King) contributed nine of her 19 digs in the first set to combat the James Madison offense early.

The second set featured seven ties and several lead changes during the set. With the match tied at 17 apiece, several James Madison errors and a kill by Pedersen-Henry gave Villanova a lead at 22-18. Villanova would finish the set strong with the set-point coming from a Loitz kill to take set two 25-20. Pedersen-Henry led the team with four of her nine kills in the second stanza.

The Villanova offense was very efficient in the third set, hitting .462, and committed only one error the entire set. Villanova started on a 4-1 run to start the set with kills from Loitz, and Pedersen-Henry to give the Wildcats an early lead. The Dukes would tie the set at six as both teams battled through the close third set. After a Dukes' service ace cut the lead to one at 11-10, Villanova countered with a 5-2 run to for a 18-13 lead. The five point lead was a large enough cushion, as the Wildcats finished the sweep of James Madison on a Crutchfield kill to end the match with the score at 25-19.

Villanova ââ'¬" 3, Sacred Heart ââ'¬" 0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-23)

A balanced offensive attack led by Claire Crutchfield, Allie Loitz, and Michaela Berendt led the Wildcats to their second win of the day, as Villanova defeated Sacred Heart 25-23, 25-23, 25-23 on Friday.

The outside-hitter trio combined for 26 of the Wildcats' 35 kills in the match, while sophomore Ashley Knight (Omaha, Neb./Elkhorn South) assisted on 31 of those kills in her first start of the season. Coach Josh Steinbach thought Knight played well, and liked the way that the Wildcats battled at the end of every set.

"I though Ashley played well tonight in her first start, but we did not bring the same energy that we had earlier today," said Steinbach. "We executed when we needed to by winning tightly contested sets."

All three sets were very competitive, but the Wildcats would not allow the Pioneers to score 25 points first.

The first set saw five ties and six lead changes. Villanova started the match on a 7-3 run to take a slight lead, but the Pioneers slowly cut the lead one with the Wildcats leading 14-13. Villanova would extend its lead to 17-14 after two kills by Berendt and a Pioneer error, but a 5-2 Sacred Heart run put the score at a 19-19 deadlock. The Pioneers would take the lead late after a Villanova service error, but the Wildcats stormed back with a set-ending 5-2 run featuring back-to-back service aces by Amanda Pedersen- Henry to win the first set 25-23.

Crutchfield tallied five of her nine kills in the second set, while Villanova as a whole hit .394 with only two errors in the entire set. The Pioneers fought back to tie the match 11 ties, but ultimately it was the Wildcats squeaking out a 25-23 win in the second set. Villanova and Sacred Heart would continually tie the match, until a Pioneer error at 14-14 sparked a Villanova 6-1 run. Regan Lough picked up two aces along with kills from Crutchfield and Pedersen-Henry in the run to give the Wildcats a 20-15 lead. Sacred Heart did not allow Villanova to run away with the set however, as they climbed back in to match with 3-0 run late to cut the Wildcat lead to just one at 23-22. Following a Villanova timeout, Darcy Wolf (Allentown, Pa./Central Catholic) recorded a kill, and a Pioneer error gave the Wildcats the second set.

Like the previous two sets, the third set was tight with the largest lead only four point difference. Sacred Heart as a whole had their least effective offensive set, with nine errors. With the set tied at 13, a Villanova 4-1 run sparked by kills by Berendt, Crutchfield, and Loitz gave the Wildcats an 18-14 lead. Once again, the Pioneers did not give up on the set, as they knotted the score at 21. Kills by Allie Olsonoski (New Orleans, La./Ben Franklin), and Loitz followed by a couple of Sacred Heart errors allowed the Wildcats to take the third and final set, 25-23.