YORK, Pa. -- After rolling into the championship match of York College's Spartan Invitational, the Virginia Wesleyan College volleyball team felt the wheels fall off in the finale.

VWC and the host York Spartans, the hottest two teams in the tournament, met for the championship, but the visiting Marlins were unable to keep things moving forward.  VWC dropped a 25-19 set in the opener, while an opportunistic York team simply took advantage of Marlin errors en route to a 25-18 win in the second set.  Unfortunately for the Marlins, that set the tone for what turned out to be final set as York dominated for a 25-8 victory.

While VWC had a seven match winning streak snapped, York hit a program-record 15 straight wins to improve to 16-1 overall.  VWC is now 11-3 overall.

It was a disappointing ending for the Marlins, but did not overshadow the team's three impressive victories in the tournament.  VWC opened with a 3-0 decision over Muhlenberg College, winning 25-20, 25-19, 25-13), and followed that with a 3-0 win over a tough St. Mary's College team, snapping the Seahawks' four-match winning streak, 25-22, 25-16, 25-17.  VWC finished pool play with a 3-1 victory over Rowan University, dropping a 24-12 first set and bouncing back to sweep, 25-20, 25-19, 25-15.  That victory put the Marlins in the title match.

VWC enjoyed its best hitting day of the season against St. Mary's, finishing with a .377 hitting percentage, the eighth best in program history.  Senior Lindsey Spears (Virginia Beach/Ocean Lakes) (left) and rookie Tempe Martens (Severna Park, Md./Severna) sparked that effort with .500 and .458 hitting efforts, respectively.  Neither player had an error in the match. Martens finished with 11 kills and Spears with 10.  Sophomore Kala Guy (Fishersville, Va./Wilson Memorial) led VWC with 16 kills.  The Marlins recorded 43 digs, led by junior Erin Paton (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) with 14.

Spears also turned in a strong hitting effort against Muhlenberg, finishing at .583, tying the 10th best hitting percentage in program history.  She led the Marlins with 14 kills.  The Marlins put down a tournament-high 13 aces against the Mules, led by senior Marissa Wood (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge) with four and sophomore Taylor Allen (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) and Guy with three each.

Virginia Wesleyan had its strongest day at the net against Rowan (6-3), recorded 14 block assists, tying the fifth highest total in program history.  Allen led the way with six, her career high and the third highest total in program history.  Guy recorded four and Martens had three.  Marteens also led the Marlins with 17 digs.

Wood, the all-time assist leader in VWC history, recorded 119 in the four matches to increase her season total to 375.

Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Tuesday, Sept. 28, hosting Bridgewater College's Eagles at 6:30 p.m. in Old Dominion Athletic Conference competition.

--AMDG--