Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | MARION, Ind. – The Indiana Tech volleyball team split its matches on the first day of the Wildcat Invitational, defeating Bethel 3-1 in the first match before losing to host, No. 20 Indiana Wesleyan in three games at Luckey Arena on Friday night.

The day started well for Tech as the Warriors (3-3) won their second straight match with a 3-1 (25-19, 25-23, 17-25, 25-23) victory over Bethel.

The Warriors won the first set, 25-19, while registering nine kills on 27 attempts for a .148 hitting percentage. Tech won the second set, 25-23, with 13 kills on 38 attempts (.184) while also winning the fourth set, 25-23, with 14 kills on 47 attempts (.128).

For the match the Warriors hit .132 (46-27-144) while tallying 44 assists, 54 digs, two solo blocks and six block assists. Katelyn St. Martin paced Tech with 18 kills and three blocks while Cassandra Sarabia registered eight and led the team with a .400 hitting percentage.

Emileen Palka tallied 20 assists with Karli Jones adding 19. Defensively, Taylor Kelso collected 14 digs with St. Martin tallying 11 and Elizabeth Mathews adding nine.

In match two, the Warriors fought hard, but couldn't topple the tournament hosts, falling in three sets (14-25, 19-25, 21-25).

Tech tallied 26 kills on 101 attacks in the match, highlighted by 10 kills on 34 tries in the final game.

Shanice Richards led the team with eight kills with Stacy Nagy leading the way with four blocks. Sarabia added five kills while Foest, St. Martin and Nagy each had four.

Jones registered 18 assists in the match while Palka added seven. Kelso led the team with eight digs while Palka added five.

"We played some great teams today," said Tech Head Coach Kourtney Wilson. "I was proud of the team as they fought for every point. Our competitiveness has really improved and it was a great start to this tournament."

The Warriors conclude play at the Wildcat Invitational tomorrow, Aug. 30 when the square off against cross-town foe University of St. Francis at 10 a.m. and Marian at 2 p.m. The Marian contest will have live video available here.