Los Angeles – While three Wildcats call California home, Villanova as a team looked right at home in Los Angeles during the first day of the Trojan Invitational. Villanova won its matchups with reigning Ivy League champion Yale and reigning MEAC champ Howard to improve to 7-1 on the season. The 7-1 record is Villanova's best start since 2005 when the team opened up 10-0.
"I thought we played really well," said head coach
Josh Steinbach. "We had a really good offensive day with good balance."
In the afternoon, Villanova picked up a 4-set victory over Yale behind Sanaä Barnes' career-high 19 kills.
The first set was smooth sailing with the only time the Wildcats trailed being 4-2. Once they took the lead at 5-4 they never looked back and went on to take the set 25-20.
Villanova ran into trouble in the second set when this time the Wildcats got down early and were unable to climb back into it. They put together a late comeback with kills from
Mallory Potts and
Sophia Howling, but it was too late and Yale held on to win a close one 25-23.
Villanova got back into rhythm in the third set with a 5-1 early lead and never trailed en route to a 25-20 victory. Barnes was at her best in the third set, picking up five kills including the both the first and last points to bookend the set.
When Villanova had a chance to end it, Yale did not go quietly. The Bulldogs battled and staved off three match points before the Wildcats finally closed it out at 29-27. It looked like it may have been heading to another tie with Villanova up 28-27, but a great effort by the Villanova defense kept a tip alive and resulted in the game winning point.
Behind Barnes, Potts had 13 kills, Howling had 12 and Olsonoski had 10.
Emma Decker led in both assists and digs with 43 and 16.
"Emma did a really nice job moving the ball around which makes us pretty tough," Coach Steinbach said. "Additionally I thought we played will in the close moments against Yale which is huge for us."
A four-hour break between matches didn't stop the Villanova momentum as it kept on rolling right through the nightcap.
The Wildcats took the first set in dominant fashion winning it 25-16.
Mallory Potts racked up six kills in the first set. After being tied at 9-9, Villanova pieced together an 11-4 run to blow the set open and coast to the finish line of that one.
While Villanova still managed to take the second set, it was a reverse of the first. After jumping out to an early lead and getting up 16-8, Howard managed to cut it to four at 20-16. The Wildcats were able to hang on and ultimately take it 25-19.
The Wildcats kept their foot on the gas in the third set and wasted no time putting the match away. It was a close start to the set at 10-9, but in the blink of an eye Villanova made it 20-12. During the stretch
Kathleen Johnson checked into the game and picked up a pair of kills. Villanova went on to close it out at 25-15 and move to 7-1 on the season.
Potts and Fairchild led with eight kills each, while
Emma Decker tallied 31 assists and Lough notched 13 digs.
The Wildcats return to action late tomorrow night with a 10:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT start when the face off with No. 20 USC, their first ranked opponent of the season.
