The Lady Cougars (20-5, 2-0 AMC) began the day with a match against Roberts Wesleyan (13-12, 1-3 AMC) that also counted as an American Mideast Conference match. MVNU came out clicking on all cylinders and won by the scores of 25-15, 25-18, 25-8 as junior outside hitter Jackie Albrecht and sophomore middle hitter Gina Porto each pounded 11 kills with Albrecht adding 12 digs and three blocks. Senior setter Kaylin Austen handed out 32 assists, while junior libero Caitlin Myles (left) posted a team-high 16 digs. Junior middle hitter Sarah Yutzy also smashed eight kills, recorded four blocks, and tallied eight digs, and freshman right-side hitter Kaylee Hewitt registered 11 digs.

"Even though it was still early in the morning, we came out ready to play and I was pleased with our effort,” said MVNU coach Paul Swanson. "It is always important to come ready to play for each conference match because they all count. We did a good job of taking care of business in this match.”

The Lady Cougars then turned their focus to Bethel (Ind.) College (11-10), who entered the match unbeaten in the tournament at 2-0. MVNU swept the Lady Pilots 25-20, 25-19, 26-24 to finish 3-1 for the two-day event. Albrecht and Yutzy each had 12 kills to lead the Lady Cougars with Yutzy posting two blocks, while Austen handed out 36 assists. Senior right-side hitter Courtney Springer contributed nine kills, and Porto registered eight kills and three blocks. Myles and Hewitt finished with 22 and 10 digs respectively with Myles also serving up two aces.

"This was another good match for us against a good team,” said Swanson. "This weekend was a good opportunity for us to get better as we played against four very quality opponents. We got better as a team because of this competition. Now, we need to build on it with a big week of conference play coming up.”

Walsh University finished as the tournament champions with a 4-0 record after beating Bryan (Tenn.) College 23-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-21 and Bethel 25-19, 25-19, 25-14. Bethel was third at 2-2 and Bryan took fourth place after sweeping Roberts Wesleyan 25-23, 25-21, 25-11.

Walsh’s Julianne O’Donnell was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament and she was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Albrecht, Myles, and Porto from MVNU, Jenna Golic and Brittany Morris from Walsh, Emily Henry from Bethel, Amber Smith from Bryan, and Mandie Bartz from Roberts Wesleyan.

The Lady Cougars will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Shawnee State University for the first of four AMC matches on the week. Tuesday’s match will start at 7:00 p.m.