LA VERNE, Calif. -- An impressive Friday of competition was followed by a so-so Saturday for Virginia Wesleyan College's volleyball Marlins who finished 2-2 in the University of La Verne Leo Invitational.

Senior Alex Lambert (Alexandria/Hayfield)was named to the All-Tournament team for VWC, which opened competition with a 3-1 win (30-28, 25-18, 21-25, 25-23) over Pennsylvania's Widener University and a 3-0 victory (25-16, 25-23, 26-24) over Massachusetts' Endicott College (10-9).

While the Marlins (17-7) enjoyed two solid hitting performances on Friday, that effort slipped on Saturday with two subpar showings.  VWC hit only .093 in a 3-0 loss (26-24, 25-14, 25-19) to host La Verne (13-3) and a -0.63 in a 3-0 setback (25-14, 25-14, 25-20) to New York's Nazareth College (18-5).

Lambert produced 48 kills in the four-match tournament, highlighted by a career-high 24 in the win over Widener (5-17).  Her 24 kills tied the second highest total in VWC history set by Lauren Heltsley against Lynchburg College in 2004 and tied by Rebecca Leedom against Bridgewater in 2008.

Sophomore Tiffany Barrett (Stafford/North Stafford)also produced a career-high with a 20-kill effort against Widener.  She finished the tournament with double-figure kills in three of the four matches en route to 49 overall.  Barrett also produced 50 digs, the second highest total of the event for VWC.

Junior Marin Crowder (Charlottesville/Crozet Western Albemarle)emerged as VWC's team leader in digs with 49, including 20 against Widener and 19 against Endicott.  Junior Kirstin Sessoms (Virginia Beach/Bayside) recorded 47 digs and led the Marlins with 106 assists. She recorded a season high 45 assists against Widener and improved her season total to a career-best 619.

Virginia Wesleyan competes again on Wednesday, Oct. 15, hosting Lynchburg College in Old Dominion Athletic Conference competition.  The Marlins are currently 5-1 in the league while Lynchburg is 4-2 and 11-9 overall. Start time is set for 6 p.m.

--AMDG--