BIRMINGHAM, Al.— McNeese's volleyball season didn't begin like the Cowgirls hoped it would Friday at the Courtyard by Marriott Samford Invitational. McNeese dropped both matches in straight sets, falling 19-25, 21-25, 17-25 to Samford and 14-25, 19-25, 20-25 to Kennesaw State.
 
The Cowgirls (0-2) will conclude tournament action on Saturday with a 12 p.m. match against Loyola-Chicago.
 
Despite dropping the season opening match against Samford, McNeese outhit the Bulldogs in the first two sets and played well at the net. McNeese led 16-3 in blocks but committed 14 service errors with some of those errors coming at crucial times during the match.
 
"It is really strange to hit such a high percentage and block well, especially in the first two sets, and not come out on top," said head coach Ashley Fitzgerald. "I think we were getting some nerves out but we will be fine. We need more quality opportunities to score in transition and I'm confident our serving will get better."
 
Both teams traded points early in the first set before Samford took the lead for good at 15-14 then outscored McNeese 10-5 the rest of the way to take set one.
 
Keegan Nelms began her junior season off on the right foot as she led McNeese with five kills on six attempts and a .855 hitting percent in the opening set. She cooled off in the final two sets to end the match with seven kills and a .200 hitting percent.
 
Senior Ebony Lewis chipped in with six kills and a .312 hitting percent. Katelyn Elliott picked up five kills and hit .286.
 
At the net, Allison Lippert and Paige Havel led McNeese with four blocks apiece and on defense, Angela McGownd was credited with 18 digs and Alexandra Aguilera picked up 11. Caitlin Sharrock led with 18 assists.
 
The Cowgirls opened the second set with a 4-2 lead behind kills from Elliott, Lewis, and Nelms.
 
After Samford tied the set at four apiece, the teams once again traded points. Havel picked up her first career kill to give McNeese a 14-13 lead. Samford came back to tie the set again and eventually took the lead for good and the second set victory for an overall 2-0 lead.
 
McNeese outhit the Bulldogs for the second straight set, this time producing a .379 hitting percent with only one error.
 
Samford came out swinging in the final set and took a 10-2 lead. The Cowgirls didn't back down and slowly cut into the lead. McNeese got as close as five points (19-14) on a kill by Kendall Glueck but the Bulldogs closed the set with a 6-3 run to take set 3 and the match.
 
Against Kennesaw State, Lewis led McNeese with nine kills while Allison Lippert picked up seven. Alexandra Aguilera led the Cowgirls with 15 assists and Angela McGownd led with 13 digs.