RIVER FOREST, Ill. (WLCSports.com) - Wisconsin Lutheran College suffered its sixth straight Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference defeat on Saturday, falling 3-1 to Dominican at Igini Sports Forum.
The Warriors (7-13, 2-6 NACC) dropped their fourth consecutive four-set match to the Stars by scores of 25-16, 15-25, 25-19, 25-21.
WLC fell behind 8-2 to the Stars in the first set, only to answer with seven straight points for a 9-8 advantage. DU responded with a 10-3 scoring run to take the lead for good en route to a 25-16 opening set victory. Wisconsin Lutheran broke away from a 5-5 tie with an 11-2 scoring run to take control of the second set. Dominican came no closer than seven points as the Warriors evened the match with a 25-15 win. The Stars pulled away from a 9-9 deadlock in the third set with a 5-1 scoring spurt. WLC closed within a point at 16-15, but another 6-2 surge sent DU to a 25-19 third set win. A back-and-forth fourth set featured 13 ties and five lead changes, as neither team could manage a run. With the set knotted at 18-18, Dominican rattled off four points in a row which proved to be the deciding margin at 25-21.
Senior
Amahra Matthai (Plover, Wis.) and junior
Lydia Biggin (Burlington, Wis.) led Wisconsin Lutheran with a match-high 11 kills each. Senior
Karah Valerio (Pewaukee, Wis.) posted a match-high 18 assists, along with team highs of 15 digs, and three service aces for her second double-double of the season. Freshman
Hannah Rood (Burnsville, Minn.) added 13 assists. Senior
Kylee Gnabasik (Jefferson, Wis.) and junior
Lily Schuetz (Lake Mills, Wis.) finished with 14 and 10 digs, respectively.Â
Melissa Schmidt recorded a triple-double with 10 kills, 18 assists, and 16 digs to lead the Stars (11-9, 4-3 NACC).
The Warriors return to the Time of Grace Center on Thursday when they host Marian (8-15, 2-6 NACC) at 6 p.m. for First Responders Appreciation Night. Live coverage links can be found at WLCSports.com.
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