ATLANTA, Ga. -- The St. Catheirne University volleyball team dropped a pair of non-conference matches to Emory University and LeTourneau University on Saturday. The matches were the team's final matches of the Jenny McDowell Invite in Atlanta. 

Mallory Johnson led the way on Saturday with 12 kills and six blocks followed by Madison Fagan tallying ten kills and eight blocks, two of which were solo. Quinlynn Parish had 18 digs between the two matches while Alexa Carlstrom followed with 15. 

MATCH ONE | St. Catherine 0, Emory 3
Despite dropping the first set 25–10, St. Kate's showed flashes of strong play that kept them in the fight. Liz Rosen and Madison Fagan provided key kills to stop St. Catherine's early runs, while Marta Haugen and Emily Bredman made their presence felt at the net with timely blocks. 

St. Kate's battled hard throughout the set, keeping pace with St. Catherine in a back-and-forth stretch that reached 20–20.  Though Emory edged it out 25–22 to go up 2-0 early. 

The Wildcats fought hard in the third set, with Bredman, Fagan and Haugen holding down the net and Mallory Johnson anchoring the block. St. Kate's kept pace early and forced Emory into several errors, showing defensive pressure at the net. Ultimately,  the Eagles pulled away late for the 25–16 win. 

MATCH TWO | St. Catherine 1, LeTourneau 3
St. Catherine set the tone early with strong serving from Addison Preuss and Liz Rosen, then kept momentum behind kills from Haugen and Alivia Hanover. The Wildcats' steady attack and blocking proved too much for the YellowJackets. St. Catherine closed the set convincingly, 25–16. LeTourneau claimed the final three sets of the match 25-14, 25-21, and 25-16 hitting .232 as a team in the match.  

Next up for the Wildcats is the Saint Paul Tournament with St. Kate's hosting on Friday, September 5 and Saturday, September 6. The first match for St. Kate's is at 7 pm Friday against Wisconsin-Superior.