ST. PETER, Minn. – The Carleton volleyball opened Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play with a road loss to 17th-ranked Gustavus Adolphus on Wednesday night at Lund Center.  The loss drops the Knights to 8-5 on the year.
 
Carleton began Wednesday night's contest with the momentum, scoring the first four points of the opening frame.  Back-to-back aces from junior Isabel Macia highlighted the spurt to give the Maize and Blue the early advantage.  Gustavus responded with a 7-1 run to take a 7-5 lead and the Knights would not lead the remainder of the first frame.  The Gusties used a pair of 5-0 runs to eventually take the opening set 25-14.
 
The Knights battled through the majority of the second set.  After Carleton scoring the set's opening point, Gustavus scored three straight and held a slight edge through the early portion of the stanza.  A 5-1 run for the home team gave the Gusties a 17-11 lead, but the Knights clawed back with three straight points to stay within arm's reach.  But the Gusties closed the door an 8-1 run to finish the set and take the second 25-15.
 
The third set turned out to be the tightest of the night, featuring eight ties.  The Knights jumped out to the early 4-1 lead before Gustavus scored five straight to grab a 6-4 edge.  Trailing 10-8 later in the set, Carleton rattled off a 4-1 spurt to take a 12-11 lead.  The host responded and eventually the Gusties led 22-17 before the Knights came roaring back with five straight points.  Back-to-back kills from senior Kerrigan Candra ignited the run, which was capped off by a kill by sophomore Jennifer Bricker to tie the score (22-22).  But Gustavus scored three of the final four points of the frame to take the match in straight sets. 
 
On the night, Gustavus held the advantage in kills (40-24), aces (9-5), and hitting percentage (.198-.084) on the way to the win.  Candra led the way for the Knights with team highs in both kills (6) and digs (12).  Sophomore Megan Smith put up 13 assists.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will return home for a 7pm contest against St. Scholastica on Friday night in West Gym.