RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The Carleton volleyball team fell to UW-River Falls in its final non-conference match of the season Wednesday night at Don Page Arena.  The Knights evened the match 1-1 before falling to the host Falcons with a 3-1 final.  The loss drops Carleton to 12-13 on the year.
 
The Knights grabbed the momentum to open the night, jumping out to an early 7-3 lead before the Falcons used an 8-3 run to take their first lead of the match (11-10).  River Falls would not trail the rest of the way through the opening set, growing its lead to as many as five points (20-15) as the Falcons went on to take the lid lifter 25-21.
 
Another early lead gave Carleton a shot in the arm in the second frame.  This time, the Knights jumped out to a six-point lead (8-2) in the early going.  River Falls later scored four straight points to cut the lead to two (11-9), but two points later, the Knights ripped off five unanswered to grab a 17-10 lead and all but put the second set away.  Carleton went on to lead by as many as nine (23-14) before the Falcons made a comeback bid with five straight points.  But the damage had been done as the Knights scored the final two points of the frame to take the second 25-19.
 
After back-to-back fast starts for the visitors, it was the home team's turn get rolling early in the third set.  The Falcons sprinted out to a 9-4 advantage and didn't look back, never leading by less than three points for the remainder of the set.  The lead grew to as many as 11 points (24-13) before the Knights rattled off five consecutive, but it was too much to climb for the Maize and Blue as UW-River Falls took the set 25-18.
 
It was a late run for the Falcons that proved to be the difference in what turned out to be the deciding set.  The Knights led 20-18 and were on the cusp of sending the match to a fifth set, but the home team dug its heels in, finishing the frame on a 7-2 run to close the set 25-22 and take the match 3-1.
 
Senior Kerrigan Candra led the way for the Knights with a season-high 16 kills and registered another season-high 18 points after adding a service ace and a solo block.  Sophomore Megan Smith dished out 36 assists and tallied her fifth straight double-double with 11 digs.  It was her 10th in her last 12 matches and 13th on the season.  Defensively, junior Ella Curtis-Revelle kept rolling, posting her second straight career-high with 21 digs. 
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will return home to close the season with a 7pm match on Saturday night at West Gym against Concordia.  As the final home match of the year, it will serve as Senior Night, where the volleyball program will honor its senior class.