PHILADELPHIA- The La Salle volleyball team fell to Temple and Villanova on Saturday in day two of the Big 5 Tournament. The Owls topped the Explorers 1-3 in the first match of the day. The Explorers fell to Villanova in the final match of the tournament 1-3. La Salle is now 8-8 on the season.

Temple led the first match of the day, besting the Explorers in three sets [25-23, 17-25, 15-25, 19-25]. La Salle was able to grab the first set, but ultimately trailed behind as Temple led the charge. The Owls recorded a .224 hitting percentage against the Explorers' .119 percentage.

Against the Owls, libero Jensen Sharrits posted a season-high of 29 digs in a match. Freshman Jenny Edwards recorded her third double-double of the season with 11 kills and 12 digs. Katherine Wood tallied 29 assists against the Owls.

Hayley Belcik recorded her third service ace of the season. Catherine Edgington and Sharrits also posted an ace each. Edgington recorded three blocks, while Ashley Felton tallied two for the Explorers.

Against Villanova, the Explorers dropped the first set 19-25, but were able to grab the second set from the Wildcats 25-21. The Wildcats returned to capture the next two sets to defeat the Explorers in a 1-3 contest [19-25, 25-21, 22-25, 19-25].

The Wildcats bested the Explorers with a .282 attack percentage, compared to La Salle's .274 percentage.  Wood recorded her second double-double of the season with 33 assists and 14 digs in the Explorer effort. Wood was named to the All-Tournament Team for her performance against the Owls and the Wildcats.

Edwards and Madison Kuch posted 13 kills each against the Wildcats, while Felton posted six. Freshman Belcik posted a season-high five service aces in the match, to bring her total to eight aces on the season. Sharrits and Wood each posted 14 digs for the Explorers.

"Although we suffered two losses today, I am pleased with the way the team competed against high-level competition," said head coach Caitlin Schweihofer. "We saw much better volleyball than we have seen in the past two weeks; we elevated our game and battled against tough opponents. Overall, I think that we are very prepared to head to conference play next weekend."

La Salle will return to action on Friday, when they open conference play at Fordham to face the Rams at 7:00 PM.
 
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Most Valuable Player- Mia Heirakuji, Temple
All Tournament- Tyler Davis, Temple; Claire Crutchfield, Villanova; Allie Loitz, Villanova; Michelle Pereira, Penn;  Katie Wood, La Salle