STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The Carleton College volleyball team lost both matches on Day 1 of the Pointer Invitational. The Knights fell 3-1 to Marian University before dropping a tough 3-2 contest to Minnesota-Morris.
Marian match recap
Carleton (2-6) dropped the first match of the weekend by scores of 15-25, 19-25, 25-22, and 17-25.
The Knights jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead in the opener, but the Sabres (2-3) responded with a 10-2 run and led the rest of the way. After Carleton pulled to within 16-14 following an ace by
Grace Perret (Fy./Green Bay, Wis./Preble), Marian used a 9-1 run to close the set. The Sabers hit .571 in the set compared to -.105 for the Knights.
Marian scored the first five points of the second game and maintained at least a three-point advantage the rest of the way.
Carleton got back into the match thanks to a strong finish to the third set. Tied at 19-19, the Knights put together a mini 6-3 run to force a fourth set.
The finale was tied 14-14 before Marian scored nine consecutive points to virtually seal the match.
Perret,
Jancyn Appel (Jr./Kansas City, Mo./The Pembroke Hill School), and
Annelise Sokolow (So./Draper, Utah/Juan Diego Catholic) had six kills apiece to pace Carleton as the Knights put together a .038 hitting percentage.
Kaitlyn Merrill led Marian with a match-high 14 kills, while Anna Tapia turned in a double-double with 10 kills and 34 assists as the Sabres owned a .284 attack percentage.
Minnesota-Morris match recap
Despite a career-best and match-high 15 kills from
Grace de Benedetti (Sr./San Francisco, Calif./San Francisco University) and double-doubles from Perret (14 kills and 11 digs), and Sokolow (12 kills, 11 digs), Carleton came up short by a 15-25, 25-19, 25-23, 17-25, 13-15 tally.
Inger Shelton (Sr./San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) was the third Knight to register a double-double in this one as she distributed a match-high 46 assists and added 14 digs.
Kennedy Bombei (Fy./Solon, Iowa/Solon) paced the defense with 20 digs.
The Cougars raced out to an 18-9 lead in the first set and cruised to a win in the opener.
Leading 13-12 midway through the second set, Carleton scored four straight points and maintained at least a four-point margin the rest of the way to level the match.
Trailing 22-20 late in the third set, the Knights used a 5-1 run to grab a 2 sets-to-1 lead.
Tied at 8-8 in the fourth set, the Cougars put together a 6-1 burst to move in front and later closed the set with an 7-2 run.
In the deciding fifth game, neither team led by more than three points with a 7-3 Marian run midway through the set providing the difference.
Overall Minnesota-Morris hit at a .206 clip, while Carleton owned a .175 hitting percentage.
Up next for the Knights
Carleton wraps up the weekend action with an 11:00 a.m. match versus Beloit College.
