ASTON, Pa. – Led by all-tournament performer Sabrina Barbieri (Glen Mills, Pa.), the Widener University volleyball team earned a second-place finish among eight schools at the Knights Invitational hosted by Neumann University on Saturday, Sept. 19. The Pride, who also had head coach Donovan Anglin earn his 200th career victory, won their pool by posting victories over Catholic, Rutgers-Camden and Baruch before dropping the championship match to Swarthmore in straight sets to conclude play at the two-day event.
 
Barbieri led the way for the Pride by racking up a combined 113 assists, including 8.69 per set, and also contributing 23 digs, 11 kills and five blocks in the four games. Freshman Nicole Dorman (East Norriton, Pa.) continued her dominance from the outside by throwing down a team-leading 47 kills to go along with 29 digs, while freshmen Janie Kalinock (Ellicott City, Md.) and Kelsey Lee (Chesapeake, Va.) finished with 14 and 10 blocks, respectively. Kalinock also had 24 kills, which ranked second on the team behind Dorman, and libero Lauren Elliott (Aston, Pa.) ended the weekend with 50 digs.
 
Sarah Wallace of Swarthmore was named Tournament MVP after registering 18 kills and hitting at a .405 clip in the championship match to lead the Garnet to their second straight weekend invitational crown this fall. The Garnet have won nine straight games and have only lost to nationally-ranked Carnegie Mellon and Stevenson, which has been among the teams receiving votes in the AVCA poll this season. Joining Wallace and Widener's Barbieri on the all-tournament squad were Lebanon Valley's Jessica Attieh, Catholic's Maria Juelle, Salisbury's Katie Stouffer, Rutgers-Camden's Brooke Hassan, Neumann's Julia Maiseed and Baruch's Crystle DelaCruz.
 
Widener 3, Catholic 1 (11-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-18)
 
Widener rallied from behind to win its opening match of the tournament over Catholic in four sets. Dorman contributed a double-double with 20 kills and 10 digs, while Barbieri added a tournament-high 35 assists to go along with seven digs. Kalinock finished with 10 kills and a team-leading six blocks, as the Pride most notably recorded a .407 hitting percentage as a squad in the third set to establish control.
 
Widener 3, Rutgers-Camden 0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-17)
 
The Pride made quick work of Rutgers-Camden to close out the first day of tournament action. Barbieri had a strong all-around performance with 26 assists, five kills and five digs, while Dorman hit at an impressive .692 clip with nine kills and 13 attacks. She did not commit any errors.
 
Anglin, who has been the pilot of the program since 2004, picked up his milestone victory and would end the weekend with 201 in his career as the head mentor at Widener.
 
Widener 3, Baruch 0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-17)
 
A sweep of Baruch punched Widener's ticket to the championship game and set up a rematch with Swarthmore, which defeated the Pride in four sets at the Schwartz Center on Sept. 1 to open the 2015 campaign. Barbieri dished out 29 assists and Elliott registered 15 digs for the second time in three tournament matches to lead the way for the Pride.
 
Swarthmore 3, Widener 0 (25-23, 25-6, 25-16)
 
Looking to avenge an earlier season loss to the Garnet, Widener found itself ahead by five points in the opening set. Swarthmore, however, recovered to win the frame by a 25-23 decision. The Garnet carried over that momentum to win the second set in decisive fashion by hitting at a .609 clip before finishing the sweep to claim the tournament crown.
 
Barbieri concluded tournament play with 23 assists in the match, while Kalinock had five kills and four blocks. Dorman once again led the team in kills with nine, and Elliott added 10 digs.
 
Widener (8-6), which has already improved its win total from last season, resumes conference play when it visits Lycoming on Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 7:00 p.m.