ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Carleton volleyball team concluded its opening weekend with a pair of losses to Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) foes.  The Knights dropped the first match 3-1 to UW-Platteville before falling 3-0 to UW-River Falls.   
 
Match 1 – Carleton 1, UW-Platteville 3
 
The Knights opened the first match of the day with a win in set one over UW-Platteville.  Carleton led by as many as three points (13-10) in the early going.  After UW-Platteville battled back to take a 19-18 lead, the Knights responded with a 5-1 run to take a 23-20 lead.  The run was highlighted by a double block from Jancyn Appel (Sr./Kansas City, Mo./The Pembroke Hill School) and Kerrigan Candra (So./Joliet, Ill./Plainfield Central).
 
The spurt was capped off by a service ace from Naiya Karl (Sr./Fargo, N.D./Fargo South) and though the Pioneers scored three of the final five points of the set, the Knights held on for the opening set win by the final score of 25-23.
 
UW-Platteville opened the second set scoring the first five points and 10 of the first 12 to open up a 10-2 lead in the early going.  Though the Knights battled, the early deficit proved too much to overcome as the Pioneers evened the match at a set apiece.
 
The third set began in a similar fashion, as UW-Platteville opened up a 12-4 lead.  Back-to-back Carleton points cut the Pioneer lead back to six (12-6), but Platteville answered with a 5-0 run and never looked back in a 25-15 third set win.
 
After UW-Platteville scored the first three points of the fourth set, the Knights came back to score five straight, highlighted by back-to-back kills by Catie Marvin (Jr./Wilmington, Del./The Tatnall School).  The difference came midway through the clinching set.  Leading 16-15, the Pioneers used a 7-2 run to take control, pushing out to a 23-17 lead and eventually closing out the match with a 25-20 win in the fourth set.
 
Candra, along with Sylvia Dixon (Fy./Vienna, Va./James Madison) led the Carleton offense with eight kills apiece.  Isabel Macia (Fy./Coral Gables, Fla./Divine Savior Academy) put up 27 assists, while Annelise Sokolow (Jr./Draper, Utah/Juan Diego Catholic) and Katelyn Harder (Fy./Las Vegas, N.V./Desert Oasis) each added 10 digs. 
 
Match 2 – Carleton , UW-River Falls
 
Saturday's second match opened with Carleton and UW-River Falls trading points.  Tied 12-12 midway through the opening set, the Falcons used a 7-2 run to open up a five-point lead (19-14).  The Knights came within three (22-19), but it was as close as they would come in a 25-21 opening set win for UW-River Falls. 
 
The second set followed a similar script with the same result.  A Sylvia Dixon ace gave the Knights a 7-6 lead, then a 4-1 run for the Falcons gave UW-River Falls a 10-8 advantage.  Leading 14-12, the Falcons scored five straight points to take a 19-12 advantage and hung on from there to take set two 25-16 and create a two-set advantage.
 
UW-River Falls used a 3-0 run in the early going of set three to take a 3-1 lead to open set three.  The Knights battled, maintaining a two-point disadvantage until the Falcons put together a 6-2 run midway through the set to take a 13-7 lead and would never look back.  The Falcons finished off the match with a 25-15 win in the third set. 
 
Kerrigan Candra paced the attack for the Knights in the second match of the day as well, tallying 13 kills with a hitting percentage of .346.  Sylvia Dixon followed with eight kills on a .353 hitting rate.  Isabel Macia registered 28 assists to finish off her debut weekend and Katelyn Harder racked up seven digs.   
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton is set for a rematch against the Falcons on Wednesday night in River Falls, Wis.  That match is slated for a 7pm start.  The Knights will then have a week off before returning to Northfield for their home opener on Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 7pm.