VIRGINIA BEACH -- When teams switched sides of the court in fifth set between  Millikin University and host Virginia Wesleyan College, matters looked pretty good for VWC with an 8-4 lead.

But, the break in play turned into a charge for the Big Blue of Millkin, as the team from Illinois roared back to take a 15-11 match-deciding win over the Marlins in the 10th annual Virginia Wesleyan College Invitational.

The Big Blue took advantage of three consecutive VWC errors to pull back into the fifth set at 8-7 and tied it a 9-9 and 10-10 before taking a 12-10 lead.  The Marlins pulled within a 12-11 score, but Millikin held on to pull out the victory.

Millkin opened the competition strong with a 25-11 set one win, only to see Virginia Wesleyan come back strong to take back-to-back 25-22 decisions.  Millkin stayed in the match however with a 25-21 set four win, setting up the intense fifth-set finale.

Millkin finished play in the tournament with a 4-0 record, while VWC and Wisconsin's Lawrence University both finished 3-1.  Pennsylvania's Neumann University and Virginia's Marymount University both produced 1-3 records and Pennsylvania's Mount Aloysisus College finished 0-4.

Virginia Wesleyan senior Kala Guy (Fishersville/Wilson Memorial) and junior Tempe Martens (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) were both named to the All-Tournament team. Guy came through for 62 kills and 43 digs in the four matches. Martens put down 54 kills and added 34 digs and Kerry Johnson (Richmond/J.R. Tucker) added 40 kills and 33 digs. Mikaela Whitaker (Gainesville/Battlefield) led the Marlins with 51 digs and Mallory Slade (Burlington, N.C./Eastern Almanance) recorded 166 set assists.  Taylor Allen (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) recorded eight block assists and nine total blocks.

Millkin's Audrey Krajec (West Salem, Ill./Edwards County) and Brittany Childress (Decatur, Ill./Warrensburg-Latham) were also named to the All-Tournament team, along with Lawrence's Diane McLeod (Hartland, Wis./Catholic Memorial), Marymount's Jenn Forbes (Philadelphia, Pa./Central), Neumann's Natalie George (Rutledge, Pa./Strath Haven), and Mount Aloysius' Lauren Oldham (Nanty Glo, Pa./Bishop Carroll).

Tournament scores:

Friday, Aug. 31
Virginia Wesleyan def. Marymount, 22-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-19
Lawrence def. Neumann, 25-16, 23-25, 25-20, 25-14
Virginia Wesleyan def. Lawrence, 25-14, 27-25, 25-21
Millkin def. Mount Aloysius, 25-14, 25-14, 25-11
Marymount def. Mount Aloysius, 25-12, 25-15, 25-18
Millikin def. Neumann, 25-17, 25-16, 25-13
Saturday, Sept. 1
Virginia Wesleyan def. Neumann, 23-25, 25-22, 25-14, 25-18
Lawrence def. Marymount, 25-17, 25-21, 26-28, 25-23
Millkin def. Marymount, 25-18, 25-19, 25-11
Neumann def. Mount Aloysius, 25-21, 25-22, 25-21
Lawrence de. Mount Aloysius, 24-21, 25-9, 25-9
Millkin def. Virginia Wesleyan, 24-11, 22-25, 22-25, 25-21, 15-11

--AMDG--