Virginia Plays in Wildcat Classic This Weekend

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Sept. 11, 2014

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.-The Virginia volleyball team, off to its best start since 2003, travels to Evanston, Illinois, for the Wildcat Classic Sept. 12-13. The Cavaliers (6-0) face Loyola Chicago and Youngstown State on Friday at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., respectively, before playing tournament-host Northwestern on Saturday at 8 p.m.

Live statistics for all three matches will be available at VirginiaSports.com. The match against Northwestern will be broadcast through Big Ten Network Plus on BTN2Go (subscription required).

Virginia won all three matches against LIU Brooklyn, Navy and Alabama by a score of 3-1 at the Cavalier Classic last weekend. Junior Natalie Bausback (Carlsbad, Calif.) was named the tournament MVP for the second consecutive weekend after hitting .516 with 3.00 kills per set. Fellow junior Lauren Fuller (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) was also named to the all-tournament team.

Northwestern comes into the weekend with a 5-1 record after going 2-1 at the USD-SDSU 2014 Challenge in San Diego, California last weekend. The Wildcats defeated Cal State Fullerton, 3-1, and Brown, 3-0, before falling to No. 15 San Diego, 3-0. Yewande Akanbi leads NU with 3.48 kills per set.

Loyola Chicago is 3-3 on the season after going 1-2 at the Arizona Invitational in Tucson, Arizona, last weekend. The Ramblers fell to Cal State Northridge, 3-1, and Arizona, 3-0, but defeated Alabama State, 3-0. Morgan Reardon averages 3.71 kills per set to lead Loyola.

Youngstown State improved to 7-1 on the season with a 3-1 win over St. Francis (Pa.) on Tuesday (Sept. 9). Lexi Egler leads the Penguins with 3.45 kills per set.

Up next, the Cavaliers travel to Richmond, Virginia, for the VCU Invitational. UVa plays Ball State on Sept. 19 and East Tennessee State and the tournament-host Rams on Sept. 20.