September 1, 1998

College Park, Md. - First year head coach Heather Hoehn new the challenge she had in front of her when she looked at the schedule and saw the University of Maryland first on the Wildcat's schedule for 1998. Walking out of Richie Coliseum, Hoehn could keep her head up high as Villanova gave the nationally ranked Terrapins quite a fight. Unable to hold leads in the first two games, the Wildcats' fatigue overcame them in the final game as Maryland beat the Wildcats in four games (15-11, 15-13, 11-15, 15-7). All-ACC middle hitter Jamie Summers led the Terps with 15 kills and 15 digs, as Maryland went on to win their 33 consecutive regular season match. Junior Beth Murphy added 15 kills, while redshirt-freshman Katie Cramer tallied 14 kills.

Again it was seniors Megan O'Brien and Elizabeth Jones leading the Wildcats as O'Brien tallied 16 kills and 15 digs, while Jones added nine kills and 17 digs. Junior setter Stacey Moline had 39 assists in the losing effort.

"There are a lot of loose ends that we need to tie up before we start conference play," said O'Brien. "We have the potential to be a very competitive team and we need to increase our mental toughness down the stretch".

The Wildcats make their 1998 debut on the Main Line as they host the Villanova Invitational this weekend, Sept. 4 and 5. Friday's action will feature Montana State versus Murray State and Saturday's action will have Villanova facing Murray State at 11:00 am and Montana State at 2:00 pm, all games will be played at the Jake Nevin Field House.