CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The West Virginia Wesleyan (0-2) volleyball team fell in matches against no. 24 Nova Southeastern (2-0) and no. 1 Tampa (2-0) on Friday (Aug. 26) at the Queens Fall Classic in Charlotte, N.C. 

WVWC Leaders 

Najla Bray led the Bobcats` offensive attack with 10 kills. Mya Bajramovic chipped in with eight kills. Payton Hefner tallied 17 assists. On the defensive end, Autumn Molenhouse led the way with 21 digs. 

#24 Nova Southeastern 3, WVWC 0

The first match totaled eight tie scores and 10 lead changes. With the set tied at 12, the Sharks scored back-to-back points to extend the lead to two. Wesleyan answered and cut the lead to one. The Sharks fired off three straight points to lead 17-14. Kills from Bray and Bajramovic cut the Bobcat deficit to 22-20. NSU responded with two points of their own to push the lead back to four before eventually claiming the first set, 25-22. 

Nova Southeastern stormed to a fast start in set two, commanding a 5-1 lead. A service error from Jordan Chessar ended the scoring run for the Sharks. WVWC cut the lead to three after a kill from Joelle Lalla. The Sharks stepped on the gas and took a 17-7 lead. NSU won set two, 25-17. 

The Sharks controlled the third set and did not concede consecutive points to WVWC. Nova Southeastern went on a 6-0 run followed by a 7-0 run to win set three, 25-9. 

#1 Tampa 3, WVWC 0 

Tampa opened set one with a sense of urgency by jumping out to a 5-1 lead. WVWC fired back with four straight points to tie the score 5-5. From that point, both teams traded scoring runs. Fueled by two separate 4-0 scoring runs, the Spartans closed out set one by a score of 25-14.

WVWC would begin set two with a 2-1 lead. The Spartans fired off five straight points to make the score 6-2. WVWC got things rolling and scored eight straight to retake the lead at 11-7. Tampa stormed back and rallied off four straight points to tie the game at 11. After Wesleyan retook the lead 14-13, the Spartans scored six straight to make the score 19-14. WVWC cut the lead down to two at 22-20. Tampa would grind out the final three points of the set and won 25-21.

The Spartans scored the opening four points of the third set. WVWC responded with three consecutive points to come within one. At 5-5, the Spartans ripped off seven straight points to take a 12-5 edge. The Spartans continued the momentum and tallied two separate 4-0 runs. The defending national champions closed out the match with a 25-13 set three win.

Up Next

The Bobcats will return to the floor at the Queens Fall Classic on Saturday (Aug. 27) afternoon. WVWC will play Lee at noon followed by a match with Mount Olive at 4 p.m.