NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton volleyball team fell to UW-River Falls in its home opener on Wednesday night at West Gym.  The Knights battled down the stretch, but could not quite get over the hump in the 3-0 loss. 
 
With a good student crowd on hand, the Knights came out competing in the opening set.  But the Falcons used a 7-2 run midway through the frame to open up a 17-10 lead and would not look back.  Carleton clawed back to cut the lead to 19-14, but River Falls finished the set on a 6-1 run to close the opener with a 25-15 win and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
The Falcons kept the momentum going in the second set, opening the frame with a 7-1 run to take the early lead.  But the Knights showed grit to claw back.  A 5-1 run cut the deficit to just two (8-6), spurred by a pair of kills from first-year Rachel Bingham (Fy., Lake Quivira, Kan./Shawnee Mission East).  Trailing 21-14 later in the set, the Knights put together four consecutive points to cut the lead to three (21-18).  The run capped off by a kill from Megan Smith (Fy., Salem, Ore./Sprague), but the Falcons responded with the last four points of the set to take it 25-18 and increase their advantage to 2-0 for the match.
 
The third set opened with a 3-1 lead for the Knights thanks to a kill from Sylvia Dixon (So., Vienna, Va./James Madison) and an ace by Kerrigan Candra (Jr., Plainfield, Ill./Central).  But the Falcons had the answer once again.  This time, a 6-1 run gave the visitors a 7-4 advantage.  That lead was four (14-10) when the Knights exploded for five straight points to take a 15-14 lead.  After River Falls rallied with three straight, the teams traded blows down the stretch, but ultimately the Falcons finished with the 25-21 edge and took the match three sets to none.
 
For the match, the Knights hit just .063 on 96 total attacks, while the Falcons hit .218 on 110 attacks.  River Falls also tallied nine blocks to Carleton's two.  Sylvia Dixon led the Carleton offense with seven kills, followed by Rachel Bingham with six.  Megan Smith tallied 12 assists and Ella Curtis-Revelle (So., Denver, Colo./North) racked up a game-high 15 digs.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will be back in action on Friday afternoon in a rematch with the University of Minnesota-Morris at the Macalester Invitational.  Friday's match is set for a 4:00pm start before taking on Luther (1:00pm) and Buena Vista (3:00pm) on Saturday afternoon.