LATROBE, Pa. (Aug. 31) – The Waynesburg University volleyball team opened up the 2018 campaign on Friday at the Saint Vincent College Bearcat Challenge. First-year head coach Hayley Kirby won in her Yellow Jacket debut as part of a two-match split.
 
The Yellow Jackets (1-1) battled through a 3-2 victory over Allegheny in their first trip to the court. Waynesburg roared out of the gate by taking set one 25-14 against the Gators (1-1). After falling in sets two and three, Waynesburg showed its resolve by coming back from a late set deficit to tie the match at 2-2 following a 25-21 win. The Jackets carried that momentum into set five, which they took 15-10 to clinch the triumph.
 
Sophomore Hannah Colvin and senior Jordyn Wyllie led the offensive charge with 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Freshman Hannah Cook added nine successful attacks to the winning effort. Junior Olivia Zuchelli did an outstanding job setting up her teammates by assisting on 38 of her team's 51 kills.
 
A trio of Jackets recorded double-digit digs in the win. Freshman Amanda Eckman led the way with a match-high 12 digs, while Zuchelli completed a double-double with 10 of her own. Senior Cassidy Guiser also logged 10 digs.
 
The Jackets nearly took the opening set of their second match against Oberlin (1-1), but dropped the final three points in a 26-24 thriller. The Yeowomen went on to take the match 3-0 following set wins of 25-16 and 25-18.
 
Wyllie added seven more kills to her total for the day and Zuchelli piled up 17 assists. Eckman and freshman Alyson Johnson paced Waynesburg's defensive efforts in the setback with nine digs each.
 
The Jackets are back in action on Saturday with two matches at Saint Vincent. They face John Carroll at 12 p.m. and wrap up their stay with a 2 p.m. match against Frostburg State.