SPOKANE, Wash. – The Carleton volleyball team opened its 2025 season with a pair of losses at the Whitworth Classic on Friday afternoon.  The Knights opened the weekend with a 3-1 loss to Texas Lutheran University before falling in five sets to Whitman College.

Match 1 – Carleton 1, Texas Lutheran 3

The Knights began the first match of the 2025 campaign by taking the first set 25-21 over Texas Lutheran.  After the Bulldogs took the first three points of the set, Carleton came back to take a 15-10 lead midway through thanks to four unanswered points.  Texas Lutheran used a 4-0 run of its own to tie the set 17-17.  Carleton's answer proved to be the difference in the set.  The Knights spouted off five straight points to take a 22-17 lead and grab the cushion they needed to capture the opening set 25-21. 

Carleton carried that momentum into the second set, leading most of the way through the frame.  The Knights led 21-18 late, but the Bulldogs scored seven of the last nine points to close the set with a 25-23 win and even the match and one set apiece. 

The third set was all Texas Lutheran through the early going as the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 11-6 lead.  Carleton answered with five straight points to even the score 11-11.  While the Knights did not lead, they kept it close through the middle of the frame.  But the Bulldogs again used a strong finish to close the set.  Leading 18-16, Texas Lutheran scored seven of the final eight points to take the set 25-17.

 Carleton led 5-4 in the early going of the fourth set, then played from behind for the remainder of the set.  The Bulldogs led 18-12 before the Knights came back to pull within two points, but it was all the closer Carleton would come in the 25-21 final to give Texas Lutheran the 3-1 win.

Junior Kate Wiczynski led the Knights with eight kills.  Seniors Ella Curtis-Revelle and Isabel Macia did some damage from the service line with three aces apiece.  Curtis-Revelle also put up a match-high 21 digs, while Macia collected 16 assists and eight digs.  Junior Megan Smith also tallied a match-high 19 assists.

Match 2 – Carleton 2, Whitman 3

After dropping the first set of its second match of the day, Carleton came back to win back-to-back sets on its way to a five-set loss.  The Blues took the opening sit thanks in large part to a late run to close out the frame.  Whitman scored 10 of the final 12 points to secure the match lead with a 25-16 win.

The second set saw the Knights jump out to an early 14-7 lead before the Blues answered with eight straight to take a 15-14 lead.  However, Carleton weathered the storm, responding with a 10-4 run that gave the Knights all they would need on their way to a 25-22 set win.

Carleton stormed out of the gate and didn't look back in the third set.  After Whitman scored the first point of the frame, the Maize and Blue rattled off five straight points, thanks in large part to three kills from sophomore Abby Kvart, to take a 5-1 lead.  That lead eventually became 9-3 and 16-10 as the Knights did not trail the rest of the way, creating a match advantage with the 25-19 win.

A late run was too little, too late for the Knights in the fourth set.  Carleton led 12-11 before a 10-2 run for the Blues gave Whitman a 21-14 edge.  A late 4-0 run got the Knights back within three, but the damage was done as the Blues closed the set out with a 25-21 win and sent the match to a deciding fifth set.

A quick spurt of five consecutive points to give Whitman a 7-3 advantage, but the Knights came roaring back with four straight points of their own.  The stretch tied the score at 7-7.  Six points later it was 10-10 when the Blues finished the set with the final five points to take the final frame 15-10 and the match 3-2.

Junior Rachel Bingham led the way for the Knights offensively with 16 kills.  Wiczynski followed as the only other Knight in double-figures with 10 to go along with four aces.  Isabel Macia notched a double-double with 24 assists and 10 digs.  Megan Smith matched her with 24 assists of her own.  She also tallied nine digs, while Ella Curtis-Revelle set a new career-high with 32 digs in the contest.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will be back in action tomorrow at the Whitworth Classic.  The Knights will take on the host Whitworth at 1pm central time.