SALISBURY, Md. -- The Mount Aloysius Women's Volleyball team opened the 2024 season, on Friday, when they traveled to the Margie Knight Classic, hosted by Salisbury University. Their Friday matchup was against Swarthmore, before they play Catholic and Salisbury, on Saturday.

The Garnet started out hot, jumping ahead 7-3 in the first set. Mount Aloysius failed to recover from there, only scoring six more points in the first set and falling, 25-9. The Mounties committed 13 errors in the first set alone.

In the second set, Mount Aloysius made it very interesting. They held multiple different leads in the set, but none greater than four points, when they led 9-5. Despite the tight score and Mount Aloysius still committing more errors than kills, the Mounties held a 23-22 lead. Unfortunately, the Garnet scored the final three points to earn a 25-23 set victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.

Swarthmore continued the momentum in the third set, grabbing a massive 12-2 advantage. It was too much for the Mounties to handle, as they ultimately fell, 25-14, and dropped the third straight set. The third set did end up being the Mounties' best hitting set of the night, as they tallied seven kills and six errors.

Overall, the Mounties committed 28 errors and hit -.071, which serves as a tough combination to overcome. In comparison, Swarthmore hit .202 with 31 kills and 13 errors.

Mackenzie Barr (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler) led the Mounties with six kills on the evening. She was the only Mountie hitter to hit above zero.

Madison Barr (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler) and Molly Richards (Naples, Fla. / Naples) each had a game-high, 14 digs, while Richards added five kills.

Mount Aloysius will wrap up play in the Margie Knight Classic, with games at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., on Saturday.