The women’s volleyball team traveled last weekend to Charlottesville, Va., to the Marriott Cavalier Invitational. The team went undefeated, winning matches against Albany, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Freshman Krista Andersen and senior Amy Gulyas each posted impressive double-doubles in all three matches. Gulyas was honored for her consistent effort and was voted MVP of the tournament. Sophomores Kim Maroon and Courtney Oertli were placed on the all-tournament team.

In the first match of the weekend tournament, the ‘Cats faced stiff competition from Albany, sending the match into five very close games (25-21, 21-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-9). It was a battle of wills as the teams volleyed the game leads back and forth. Oertili (54 assists, 17 kills) joined Andersen (18 kills, 17 digs) and Gulyas (12 kills, 12 digs) in achieving double-doubles, and senior Elysse Studzinski added 13 crucial kills to pull out the weekend opener.

Next up was a tough faceoff against host Virginia (25-19, 25-21, 20-25, 25-16). Gulyas and Andersen continued to find the floor, finishing with 10 and 15 kills, respectively. Maroon served her way to seven aces to go along with her 25 digs. Studzinski recorded just one error with her 12 kills to hit at .478. The Cavaliers forced a fourth game, but the Wildcats crushed any hope with a solid 25-16 fifth game win.

In their next match against Virginia Tech, the Hokies put up a strong fight but the Wildcats once again came out victorious 3-2 (17-25, 25-18, 25-22, 21-25, 15-9). After a slow first game, the ladies quickly fell 6-13. Refocused after a timeout, the ‘Cats went on a roaring 12-4 run to gain the lead. Hard hitting from Andersen resulted in 16 kills and Gulyas finished with 12 kills, 10 digs and four service aces. The Wildcats’ strong defense, sparked by Maroon’s 33 digs, helped keep the Hokies’ hitting percentage at a dismal a very impressive number of .429.

The Wildcats will return to the Pavilion next weekend to begin their conference schedule, when they will square off with Big East Conference rivals Cincinnati and Louisville on Sept. 25th and 27th, respectively. Friday’s game against Cincinnati is at 7 p.m. and Sunday’s against Louisville is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.