The Muhlenberg volleyball team enjoyed a tremendous start to the 2018 season, going 3-1 against a strong field at Christopher Newport's Captains Classic.

The Mules' four opponents averaged more than 25 wins last year, and all four received votes in the AVCA Division III preseason poll. Two of them, Christopher Newport (No. 23) and Stevenson (No. 24), were ranked in the preseason top 25, and Muhlenberg defeated both of them.

Muhlenberg bookended the tournament with a pair of five-set thrillers. The Mules' comeback win against Susquehanna (26-24, 21-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-13) was decided by a total of 14 points, tying the school record for closest five-set match using rally scoring (previously set vs. York in 2012). That record was broken the next day, when Mary Washington's 25-20, 23-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-13 win was decided by 13 points.

In between came the wins against the nationally ranked opponents. A 25-18, 27-25, 25-21 sweep against the host school was Christopher Newport's first 3-0 loss at home in four years. Muhlenberg opened the second day of the tournament with a 26-24, 25-18, 21-25, 25-23 win against Stevenson, a team that went 33-2 last fall.

Senior Shannon Hubert and sophomore Maya Illovsky were named to the all-tournament team. Hubert was one dig short of four straight double-doubles, notching 158 assists and 52 digs. She is only 21 digs away from 1,000 for her career. Illovsky ended the weekend with 91 total digs, an average of 5.35 per set.

Senior Kelly Tornetta led the Muhlenberg attack with a total of 57 kills in the four matches, moving over 900 for her career. Junior Maggie Enestvedt reached double figures in kills in all four matches, totaling 51.

Junior Laura Boll had a breakout weekend, recording 9 kills and 12 digs vs. Stevenson and 20 kills and 18 digs vs. Mary Washington - narrowly missing becoming the first Mule with a 20-kill, 20-dig match since 2005. Coming into the tournament, Boll's career highs were 6 kills and 10 digs.

Match-by-Match Leaders
Susquehanna
  kills - Maggie Enestvedt 14, Tara Register 14
  assists - Shannon Hubert 41
  digs - Maya Illovsky 31, Kelly Tornetta 15
  blocks - Madison Forrest 5
  aces - Maya Illovsky 4

Christopher Newport
  kills - Kelly Tornetta 14, Tara Register 12, Maggie Enestvedt 10
  assists - Shannon Hubert 39
  digs - Maya Illovsky 17, Shannon Hubert 16
  aces - Shannon Hubert 3

Stevenson
  kills - Kelly Tornetta 15, Maggie Enestvedt 12
  assists - Shannon Hubert 33
  digs - Maya Illovsky 20, Laura Boll 12
  blocks - Madison Forrest 3
  aces - Shannon Hubert 4, Maya Illovsky 4

Mary Washington
  kills - Laura Boll 20, Kelly Tornetta 19
  assists - Shannon Hubert 45
  digs - Maya Illovsky 23, Laura Boll 18, Maggie Enestvedt 15
  blocks - Erica Schultz 3
  aces - Maggie Enestvedt 3, Kelly Tornetta 3