The first match of the day pitted the Lady Cougars (18-5) against the Lady Lions of Bryan (11-8), who entered the tournament as the top team from the Appalachian Athletic Conference with a 7-0 conference mark. MVNU pulled out a 25-18, 23-25, 25-13, 25-17 victory as junior outside hitter Jackie Albrecht (left) led the way with 17 kills and 25 digs. Senior right-side hitter Courtney Springer added 13 kills and 20 digs, while sophomore middle hitter Gina Porto pounded 10 kills with four blocks. Senior setter Kaylin Austen handed out 48 assists and served up three aces, and junior libero Caitlin Myles posted 17 digs and four aces. Junior middle hitter Sarah Yutzy also tallied nine kills, 13 digs, and three blocks.

"(Bryan) really came out and played well defensively in the first two sets,” said MVNU coach Paul Swanson. "We kept battling and continued to get better and better as the match went on. This was a nice win against a good team who was playing well.”

The second match featured two American Mideast Conference rivals facing off in a rare non-conference match as the Lady Cougars took on Walsh University (16-1). The Lady Cavaliers rallied for a 16-25, 25-19, 15-25, 27-25, 15-12 victory to hand MVNU its first home loss of the season and snap the Lady Cougars’ seven-match winning streak. Albrecht once again led the team as she finished with 18 kills, three aces, and 17 digs, while Porto put away 17 kills. Austen handed out 55 assists to go with two aces, and Springer registered 10 kills and 18 digs. Myles finished with a game-high 30 digs, while freshman right-side hitter Kaylee Hewitt posted 13 digs. Yutzy and senior outside hitter Julie Haumschild tallied nine and eight kills respectively with Yutzy recording a team-high six blocks.

"This was a hard-fought match that we just were not able to pull out,” said Swanson. "We played very well against a very good team. This match will make us better. Now, we need to come back tomorrow ready to keep working hard.”

The Lady Cougars will return to action at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday against Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.) College in a match that will also count in the AMC standings. Then, MVNU will close out the tournament against Bethel (Ind.) College at noon. Walsh and Bryan will square off at noon and then Walsh will face Bethel at 2:00 p.m. Bryan will also take on Roberts Wesleyan at 2:00 p.m. to close out the tournament.

In other action on Friday, Walsh swept Roberts Wesleyan 25-15, 25-14, 25-13, while Bethel also went 2-0 with a win over Bryan by the scores of 25-11, 25-18, 25-17 and a come-from-behind victory over Roberts Wesleyan by the scores of 22-25, 25-16, 25-14, 8-25, 15-7.