Danville, VA - The 2015 volleyball season opened with a trip to the two day, four match Cougar Classic hosted by Averett University.  Hollins faced ODAC foe Randolph College in a non-conference matchup before playing William Peace later in the afternoon.

Hollins and Randolph put on quite a show for the fans as each set came down to the final points.  In the opener, the two long time opponents found themselves in a deadlock at 23-23.  The WildCats enjoyed the matches final run as they rattled off a pair of points to win the first set.  Set number two was just as close.  This time it was Hollins that enjoyed a late lead, 23-21.  However, Randolph scored five of the final six points to take a 2-0 lead.  With the WildCats looking to finish off their opponents, Hollins once again fought point for point.  After back-to-back kills by Deja Hadden (Norfolk, VA), Hollins trailed by just a single point, 21-20.  Unfortunately the WildCats once again enjoyed a set ending run by outscoring Hollins, four to one, and closing out the match, 3-0.

Hadden led Hollins at the net with six kills on 21 attacks.  Senior Lela Moore (Woodleaf, NC) added five kills and a match high 15 assists while Rikki Martinez (Corpus Christi, TX) registered four kills and 13 digs.

Later in the afternoon, Hollins was back on the court against William Peace.  Hollins looked to learn from their earlier match and close out the Pacers when given the chance.  However, William Peace didn't allow Hollins to gain any momentum, taking the first set by the score of 25-16.  The second set saw Hollins once again fall by the same, 25-16, score.  The third set was a different story with Hollins pushing their opponents from the USA South to the limit.  However, the Pacers prevailed in the end, 25-22, sending a game Hollins squad to an 0-2 record on the day.

Hollins will look to get back in the win column tomorrow when they travel back to Danville for day two of the tournament.  Hollins will face another familiar opponent when they play Shanendoah at 1:30pm before finishing the tournament by playing the host Cougars in the weekend finale.