The Highland Cougars Women's Volleyball Team kicked off their season at the largest two-year college event in the country: Opening Weekend Tournament, held at UW Sports Facility in Rockford, IL. The Cougars fell 0-2 on Friday to both Lake Land College, as well as Spoon River College, both in 5-set thriller matches that went down to the wire! "Our ladies played their hearts out and amassed a total of over 420 points of volleyball action between our two Friday matches", said Head Coach Aaron Heim. "...I'm proud of the fight we showed in both matches!"
 
The Cougars, ending their day on Friday at approximately 7pm, then had a swift turnaround to begin their Saturday matches at 8am and 10am against John Wood and Schoolcraft College, respectively. The Cougars would go on to sweep both opponents 3-0 in the early morning.
 
The Lady Cougs didn't stop there, however. On Sunday, Highland faced Glen Oaks, an opponent they were familiar with, eventually winning 3-0. Highland's final match of the weekend was against Montcalm Community College. Montcalm took an early first-set win 25-22, but the Cougars stormed back in the next 3 straight sets (25-15, 25-9, 25-14) to get the come-from-behind victory to earn themselves a 4-2 overall record on the weekend.  "I'm extremely proud of our ladies with not only the physical toughness they showed, but also the mental resiliency to continue fighting after two early, heartbreaking losses", said Heim.
 
Highland now looks to open their home schedule by welcoming in Arrowhead Conference foe Illinois Valley on August 27th, and Region IV newcomer, UW Whitewater Rock County on August 29th. Both matches will begin at 6pm, and will also be live streamed on the Highland Athletics Youtube page.