The opening day of the 2018 NJCAA Volleyball Championship Tournament saw the Lady Cardinals make more history.
In addition to their appearance on the big stage being their first, the Lady Cardinals also recorded the first national tournament win in school history with a 3-1 decision against No. 8-seeded Mineral Area. The Lady Cardinals won 26-24, 18-25, 25-21, 25-23).
The win moved Coach Tosha Spain's squad into the national quarterfinals to face No. 1-seeded and two-time defending national champion Miami Dade. The Lady Cardinals gave Miami Dade all they wanted before falling by a 17-25, 22-25, 23-25 count.
Friday's mixed results left the Lady Cardinals with a 26-7 season record and dropped them into the consolation bracket today, where they will face Navarro in a 2:30 p.m. Fourth-seeded Navarro dropped a 3-0 decision to fifth-seeded Iowa Western in its quarterfinal match.
The TVCC-Navarro winner advances to the fifth-place game Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The loser will play in the seventh-place game at 12:30 p.m.
Juliana Vaz led the Lady Cardinals in the win against Mineral Area, finishing with 18 kills, 11 digs and 19.5 points. Lauren Castles had nine kills and 10.5 points.
Audry Lopez had 11 digs.
Vaz was also the leader against Miami Dade with 12 kills, nine digs and 14.5 points. She also had two service aces.
Yasmin da Silva and Castles had nine kills each. Castles finished with 11 points.
Lopez had 15 digs.
All national tournament games will be available online at www.njcaatv.com. A purchase fee will be required.