WASHINGTON, D.C. – The CUA Guetle Invitational, hosted by Catholic University of America, started up on Friday afternoon, as the Marymount (Va.) University women's volleyball team split its two matches on day one of the two-day tournament. 

The Saints opened up with a strong showing against Marywood University, taking the match in four sets, 3-1 (25-10, 25-14, 24-26, 25-18). Quickly getting into the next match, MU fell to Otterbein University in a four-set battle, 3-1 (23-25, 13-25, 29-27, 22-25), to end the day. 

Marymount vs. Marywood 

In an all-around effort out of the entire Marymount squad, the Saints kicked off the day with a 3-1 victory over the Pacers. Sophomore Emily Montgomery set a new career high and tied a team high in digs for the match with 13, while junior Emileigh Rettig tallied the same amount. 

Senior Morgan McAlpin paced the attack with a team-high nine kills, and junior Mallory Mitchell fired away seven to go along with her seven digs. Junior Cailyn Thomas landed six kills off her nine attack attempts, as well as combining on five blocks. 

As a team, the Saints recorded 53 kills off 118 attempts to tally over 30 percent for the match. 

Marymount vs. Otterbein 

It was a battle up to the end of the fourth set in the second match of the day for Marymount, but came up just short against the Cardinals, 3-1. Sophomore Margaret McAlpin, freshman Caroline Hanson and Rettig all tallied seven kills, while Rettig also added a team-high 10 digs. Sophomore Ashley Cabrera and Hanson led the team in assists with 17 and 15, respectively. 

The Saints (6-2) jumped out to an early lead in the first set, 10-7, but Otterbein remained in striking distance going on a four-point run to retake the lead. The advantage swayed four times throughout the set, but the Cardinals took the final lead and held onto it to take a 25-23 first set. 

In the second set, Marymount fell behind in the opening points, but a run that saw MU scoring seven of eight points in a stretch towards the middle of the set put it down just one, 12-11.  The Cardinals would answer though with 10-consecutive points to eventually give them a 2-0 lead in the match. 

Although down two sets, the Saints didn't go away, taking the third set to extra points where they would pull off a 29-27 victory. The game saw seven lead changes, including three past the 25-point mark. With Marymount only needing one point to take the set, two-straight points by the Cardinals swayed the score in favor of them, 26-25. The Saints earned the two points right back off a Rettig kill and a Cardinal attack error, before Otterbein would tie the set one last time at 27-27. A Margaret kill and another attack error by the Cardinals sealed up the set for Marymount. 

The fourth set saw big runs by both teams in the early parts of the set until it remained close for the later parts. Down four, 24-20, the Saints made a last ditch effort to steal the set, scoring two quick points off a Cardinal service error and a Thomas kill, but Otterbein would get its final point off a kill to take the match, 3-1. 

The women are back in action on Saturday, September 12 for the final day of the tournament. The first match is set to begin at 1 p.m., against Bridgewater (Va.) College, followed by a matchup against host Catholic at 3 p.m.