ST. PAUL, Minn. – In a rematch from nearly a week ago, the Carleton volleyball team fell in straight sets to the University of Minnesota-Morris on Friday afternoon at the Leonard Center.  The Knights will finish out the weekend in the Macalester Invitational with a pair of matches on Saturday against Luther College and Buena Vista University.
 
Friday's first set proved to be a game of runs.  After the Knights held an early 2-1 lead, the Cougars scored six straight points to grab a 7-2 lead.  Carleton responded with four straight kills to climb back within one (7-6), but Morris had the answer again, opening up an 11-6 lead after four consecutive points. 
 
Trailing 18-12 later in the set, the Knights stormed back to within two points with a four-point spurt, including three consecutive aces from Sylvia Dixon (So., Vienna, Va./James Madison) and Carleton was back within two.  But the Cougars took advantage of Carleton miscues down the stretch, scoring seven of the final nine points to take the first set win 25-18.
 
The Knights battled through the early part of the second set.  Trailing 9-8 early on, Carleton went on a 5-2 run to take a 13-11 lead.  But eight straight points for the Cougars all but put the set away for Morris, opening up a six-point advantage (19-13).  The Knights outscored the Cougars 7-6 over the final 13 points of the set, but it was not enough as Morris took the set 25-20 and extended its lead to 2-0 in the match.
 
Tied 14-14 in the third set, a 6-2 spurt for the Cougars opened up a 20-16 lead that proved to be the difference in what proved to be the final frame.  The Knights came within one point twice the remainder of the way (20-19, 23-22), but Morris scored the final two points of the set to win 25-22 and stamp the match final 3-0.
 
Kerrigan Candra (Jr., Plainfield, Ill./Central) led all players with 10 kills in the match, followed by Sylvia Dixon with eight and Annelise Sokolow (Sr., Draper, Utah/Juan Diego Catholic) with seven.  Dixon also tallied a match-high four services aces, while Megan Smith (Fy., Salem, Ore./Sprague) and Isabel Macia (So., Coral Gables, Fla./Divine Savior Academy) each racked out double-digit assists with 15 and 12, respectively.  Katelyn Harder (So., Las Vegas, Nev./Desert Oasis) paced the Carleton defense with a match-high 17 digs.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will be back in action on tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon at the Macalester Invitational with back-to-back matches against Luther College and Buena Vista University at 1:00pm and 3:00pm, respectively.