ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Carleton volleyball team capped the Macalester Invitational with a 1-2 record after falling to UW-Superior (1-3) and defeating Grinnell College (3-1) on Saturday afternoon at Leonard Center.  The Knights move to 8-4 on the season and will open conference play a week from Wednesday.
 
Match 1 – Carleton 1, UW-Superior 3
 
Saturday's first match opened with Carleton grabbing the early lead.  The Knights doubled-up the Yellowjackets in the early going with a 6-3 lead.  Superior then scored six straight to take a 9-6 advantage.  The Yellowjackets were able to extend their lead to 14-9 and eventually 18-13 when the Knights stormed back with a 6-1 run to tie the game at 19-19, but Superior closed out the opening frame.  Tied 21-21, the Yellowjackets score four of the final six points to take the set 25-23.
 
Superior kept the momentum to open the second set.  The Yellowjackets rattled off the first six points of the frame to grab the early advantage.  A Sylvia Dixon ace later tied the set at 10-10 as the Knights climbed back into it.  Carleton trailed 15-14 midway through, but Superior ripped off a quick 6-1 run to take a 21-15 lead that all but put the set away.  The Yellowjackets went on to win the set 25-17.
 
Carleton got things going in the third set.  After Superior scored the first three points of the frame, the Knights scored six of the next eight points to take their first lead of the set (6-5).  Carleton would not lead by more than two through the middle of the frame until a string of three straight points opened up a 19-16 lead.  The Yellowjackets responded with three straight points of their own to even the score once more (19-19).  But the Knights closed the door on the set by scoring six of the final seven points to take it 25-20 and extend the match.
 
After the Maize and Blue scored the first two points of the set, Superior came back to score four straight and take a 4-2 lead.  The Knights would come back to tie the score 5-5 before the Yellowjackets went on a 10-2 run and cruised from there.  Superior went on to take the set 25-13 and the match there sets to one.
 
As a team, Carleton hit just .081 for the match compared to .185 for Superior.  The Yellowjackets registered 55 kills to 41 for the Knights.  Senior Kerrigan Candra led the way with a double-double for Carleton.  The Plainfield, Ill., native put up 12 kills and 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the season.  Sylvia Dixon tallied 14 kills to go along with three aces.  Sophomore Megan Smith racked up 26 assists and first-year Madeleine Dimitre posted 20 digs. 
 
Match 2 – Carleton 3, Grinnell 1
 
The Knights got back on track in Saturday's second match.  After Grinnell scored the first three points of the match, Carleton came back to tie the match 5-5.  Four points later, the Knights trailed 8-6.  A kill by Kerrigan Candra turned out to spark a massive 13-1 that turned the tide of the opening set.  A pair of kills from Candra and a pair of service aces from Megan Smith highlighted the run, which put the Knights in front 19-9.  From there, Carleton cruised to a 25-15 opening set win.
 
The Maize and Blue jumped out to an early 5-2 lead in set two.  Carleton held a 15-13 lead midway through the frame when Grinnell put together three straight points to take its first lead of the set (16-15).  The Knights came back to take an 18-17 lead, but the Pioneers answered with four unanswered points to grab a 21-18 lead headed down the home stretch.  Carleton trailed 23-21 and in need of a run.  The Knights got just that, scoring the final four points of the set thanks in large part to back-to-back aces from Smith to grab the come-from-behind 25-23 win. 
 
Leading 2-0 in the match, Carleton held the edge in the early going of the third set.  The Knights held a slight 9-7 lead before Grinnell scored four unanswered to grab an 11-9 lead.  The lead changed hands twice more before the Pioneers used a 6-2 run to open up an 18-15 lead.  Carleton then came storming back with five consecutive points to take the lead back 20-18, but Grinnell was not out of it yet.  The Pioneers clawed back with a 7-2 run to finish the set and take the 25-22 win to extend the match.
 
Carleton snuffed the Grinnell momentum to open the fourth set.  Smith opened with an ace, followed by a kill from Candra.  Back-to-back kills from sophomore Jennifer Bricker and another kill by Candra earned the Knights their early lead.  A 7-1 run later in the set gave the Pioneers their first lead of the set (12-10), but Carleton responded with a stretch of their own.  This time, the Knights rattled off eight straight points, including two more aces from Smith to stretch an 18-12 lead.  Grinnell clawed back to within three (24-21), but the late run by the Knights proved to be too much in the 25-21 deciding set.
 
The Knights held the slight hitting advantage for the match, posting a .127 percentage compared to .101 for Grinnell, but dominated service aces (15-9) and blocks (13-3).  Megan Smith was the catalyst for the Knights.  The sophomore narrowly missed a triple-double, putting up 22 assists, 11 digs and a career high eight aces at the line.  Candra led the Knight offense with 13 kills, while Sylvia Dixon narrowly missed another double-double with nine kills and 15 digs.  Junior Isabel Macia also posted double-figure assists (12) and Madeleine Dimitre put up a career high 26 digs. 
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will now have a week off before opening conference play at Gustavus on Wednesday, Sept. 25 in St. Peter.