MENOMONIE, Wis. – The Carleton volleyball team fell to UW-Stout in a road non-conference match Wednesday night at Johnson Fieldhouse.  The Knights fall to 9-6 overall with the loss.
 
UW-Stout jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in Wednesday's opening set and did not look back.  A 4-1 run for Carleton cut the Blue Devil lead to just one point (10-9), but the home team responded with an 11-3 run that all but put the lid lifter away, pushing out to a 21-12 lead and cruising to a 25-17 opening set win.
 
It was another 6-2 lead in the early going for the Blue Devils in the second set.  That advantage grew to as many as 10 midway through the frame (18-8).  Though the Knights scored three of the next four points to gain a little life, the damage had been done as the Blue Devils matched the 25-17 win from the first set.
 
Carleton was able to carry some momentum from the previous set over into the third.  The Knights scored the opening two points of the frame on a kill from sophomore Jennifer Bricker and an ace from junior Isabel Macia.  The slight advantage was Carleton's first lead of the match, an edge that later grew to three (8-5) thanks in large part to first-year Abby Kvart.
 
With Carleton hanging on to a one-point lead (12-11) later in the set, the host rattled off four straight points that swung the momentum to a different shade of blue and gave the Blue Devils a 15-12 advantage.  Stout went on to lead the remainder of the set and score four of the last five points to take a 25-20 win in the final set and finish off the match win.
 
UW-Stout hit .287 on just 87 attacks on the night compared to .089 on 101 attacks for Carleton.  Bricker led the Knights with nine kills.  Sophomore Megan Smith finished with 16 assists, while Macia was also in double-figures with 10.  First-year libero Madeleine Dimitre posted 16 digs in the contest.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will return home for an MIAC bout with Bethel on Friday night at West Gym.  That match is set for a 7pm start.