#3 Washington 3, Davidson 0

DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Davidson Wildcats volleyball team suffered its first loss of the season, falling 3-0 (30-25, 30-14, 30-19) to the defending national champion Washington Huskies on Thursday night in the second game of the Mizuno Wildcat Classic at Belk Arena.

Portland defeated Liberty 3-0 (30-12, 30-22, 30-25) in game one earlier in the evening.

The Wildcats (3-1) got off to a strong start, but in the end, the No. 3 Huskies (2-1) proved too much.

Senior outside hitter Liz Williamson led the Wildcats with 10 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Kittery Neale made the most of her opportunities, recording seven kills and hitting a team-leading .357. Senior setter Jenna Dykstra was all over the court for the 'Cats, recording 22 assists and six kills to go along with five digs and two block assists.

For the Huskies, Christal Morrison recorded a match-high 16 kills and .652 hitting percentage, and Alesha Deesing chipped in 10 kills and hit .438.

The Wildcats made their strongest showing in game one, behind the serving of Dykstra and Neale as well as some electric defense from junior libero Courtney Cron, who recorded a team-high eight digs. Davidson took four straight points with Neale back to serve to pull to 22-17, and then fought off three straight game points before falling 30-25.

The second game was tight at the beginning, with the score tied on six occassions before the Huskies started to pull away. With Davidson ahead 8-7, Tamari Miyashiro served seven straight points to give Washington a 13-8 edge that the Wildcats could never overcome. Williamson recorded four kills in the match, but the 'Cats could not keep pace with the Huskies, who went on to a 30-15 victory in game two.

After the break, the Huskies came out firing, rolling to a 30-19 win to take the match. Behind the serve of junior Lindsey Woeste, Davidson took five straight points late in the game as Neale and Williamson fought to keep the Wildcats in the match, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit.