SPOKANE, Wash. – The Carleton volleyball team fell in straight sets to host Whitworth University on Saturday afternoon at the Whitworth Classic.  The Knights will return to the Midwest for three matches at the UWRF Falcon Invite next weekend.
 
Whitworth jumped out to the early lead in Saturday's opening set.  The Pirates opened up a 14-7 advantage in the early going.  Later in the frame, trailing 19-13, the Knights rattled off four straight points to climb back within two points (19-17).  Then after allowing Whitworth to score three consecutive points, Carleton answered with another 4-0 run to narrow the lead to one (22-21).  But the home team scored the final three points of the set to take the 25-21 opening set win.
 
The second set was all Whitworth.  The Pirates scored the first nine points of the frame and cruised to a 25-10 win in the second set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Carleton was a motivated group to begin the third set.  The Knights rebounded from the tough loss in the second set to score six of the first seven points, thanks in large part to three kills by junior Kate Wiczynski.  The Maize and Blue kept the gas pedal down, extending its lead to 13-5 as the set entered the midway point.
 
But Whitworth responded by scoring 10 of the next 11 points to take a 15-14 lead.  After the Knights scored to tie things up once more, the Pirates closed the set on a 10-1 run to put the finishing touches on the straight-set win.
 
The Knights hit .087 as a team compared to .224 for the Pirates.  Whitworth also totaled 39 kills to 26 and tallied 12 aces to just three for Carleton.
 
Junior Rachel Bingham paced the Carleton offense with eight kills.  Kate Wiczynski followed with seven.  First-year Ella Goolsby put up a career-high four blocks and junior Megain Smith totaled 10 assists.  Senior Ella Curtis-Revelle notched 11 digs.  Wiczynski followed with nine and Bingham with six.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will be back in action next weekend when they travel across the Wisconsin border.  The Knights will play a pair of matches on Friday against Simpson College and Nebraska Wesleyan University before taking on the host UW-River Falls on Saturday night.