BEXLEY, Ohio -- The Washington & Jefferson volleyball team fell in straight sets to both Otterbein and Wittenberg to close out play at the 2018 Capital/Otterbein Fall Classic on Saturday, Sept. 1.

The Presidents had their hands full with today's competitors, as both the Cardinals and the Tigers appeared in last year's NCAA Tournament. Otterbein made it to the second round of the event, while Wittenberg (AVCA Preseason No. 4) fell in the national championship. 

The final score of the opener against Otterbein was 25-22, 25-14, 25-20 in favor of the Cardinals, while Wittenberg won 25-18, 25-14, 25-20. 

Senior Abbey Eich (Greencastle, Pa./St. Maria Goretti (Md.)) led the way for the Presidents against the Cardinals with eight kills and a .389 hitting percentage. Julia Galbraith (Pittsburgh, Pa./Vincentian Academy) had a career day from the service line, as she logged a career-best three aces in the match. Mallory O'Brien (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) orchestrated the offense with 21 assists on the team's 28 kills. 

Defensively, Eich paced all players with three total blocks in the opener, while Bernesser was not far behind with two. Galbraith led W&J with 12 digs against the Cardinals. 

In the second match of the day against Wittenberg, Morgan Jacques (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Science & Technology Academy) floored a team-high eight kills, while hitting at a .300 clip. Jacques and Madison Lydic (Erie, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) each posted a team-high four blocks. With five total blocks today, Lydic now has 288 in her career, which is just seven shy of cracking the top five in program history during the rally-scoring era. 

W&J's next bout will be against Carnegie Mellon on Wednesday, Sept. 5, in Pittsburgh, Pa. The match is slated to start at 7:00 p.m.