VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova volleyball fell in its final match of the week, suffering a four-set defeat (25-16, 11-25, 24-26, 18-25) to the Old Dominion Monarchs in the finale of the Villanova Classic on Sunday afternoon.
Villanova wrapped up the weekend at 2-1, boasting the best set winning percentage of the four teams with a 7-3 set record (70 percent).
A pair of freshmen Campbell McKinnon and Alyssa Nelson were named to the Villanova Classic All-Tournament Team for their efforts with McKinnon hitting .460 on 30 kills and 12 blocks over the weekend as Nelson tallied 57 total assists and 24 digs across the three matches.
McKinnon had a banner day in her young career for Villanova (3-3), totaling a season-best 17 kills on a match-high .500 hitting percentage, three service aces and one solo block out of her four total blocks.
Cat Young contributed seven kills and 11 digs with a career-best three service aces while Ozzie Ozonoh tied a career-high with four blocks in the contest. Taylor Jakubowski tallied her second double-double in a VU uniform with 10 assists and a match-high 18 digs as freshman setter Nelson totaled a team-best 22 helpers in the match.
"We're a young team and this kind of thing happens," head coach Josh Steinbach said. "We had a great night yesterday and followed it up with a performance like this, we know there's a lot of room to grow."
The 'Cats stayed hot early from their back-to-back sweeps, forcing two quick Old Dominion timeouts with three separate four-point runs on the way to securing a 19-11 edge. Villanova had three blocks in the final nine points, powering them to a 25-16 victory and the eighth set win in a row.
ODU turned the tables in the second frame by jumping out to a 14-6 advantage to begin the set, then storming their way to an even match with a 25-11 stanza.
Following the two lopsided stanzas, it was an even, back-and-forth third featuring 18 ties and five lead changes. The Monarchs took a 21-17 edge but the Wildcats used a 4-0 run to knot it back up, though ODU outlasted the hosts for a 26-24 win.
Old Dominion began with a 9-4 opening to the fourth and used a 7-0 stretch to break the frame wide open, finishing it out at 25-18 to deliver the 'Cats their lone loss of the four-match home slate.
UP NEXT: Now in the wake of an active week at home, the Wildcats will head to Connecticut for the Yale Invitational on Friday and Saturday before a Sunday match at Fairfield.
