Aug. 30, 2008
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Freshman Morgan Petkovich had a match-high 12 kills with just one attack error and Villanova (2-1) swept Rider (2-2) by a 3-0 count to finish its first weekend of play at the La Salle Tournament. The Wildcats won by scores of 26-24, 25-15 and 25-22 at Tom Gola Arena.
After a narrow 3-2 loss to Northern Colorado in its season opener at the tournament yesterday, Villanova responded with convincing wins over Lafayette and Rider this afternoon. After an evenly contested opening set, the Wildcats smashed 17 kills with only two errors for a .500 hitting percentage in the second set.
Petkovich owned a .733 attack percentage for the match and Villanova hit .255 as a team along the way to the victory. The Wildcats had seven team blocks in the match as well, including three apiece from senior Whitney Harrington and freshman Maggie Mergen. Harrington had three block assists while Mergen had two solo blocks and one assist.
Rider never had an answer for the Villanova surge in the second set and hit just .102 for the match, including -.062 (6-8-32) in the final set. Katelyn Thompson and eight kills and Lacey Johnson 12 digs for the Broncs.
Villanova used 12 different players in the match and freshman Courtney Oertli had 35 assists.
In the opening set, Rider led 22-17 before the Wildcats closed with a 9-2 spurt to begin its run to the sweep. An attack error by the Broncs evened the score at 23-23 and tied the score for the first time since it was 4-4 early in the match. Senior Dana Tartazky followed with a kill for a 24-23 Villanova lead and the Wildcats eventually won two straight points to close out the set.
Next up for Villanova is a trip to defending national champion Penn State for the PSU Tournament next weekend. The Wildcats will play neutral-court matches against Long Island and George Washington before taking on the champion Nittany Lions next Saturday at 8 p.m.
