RIPON, Wis. - The Ripon volleyball team played two marathon matches, with differing results, which went the maximum five sets during Friday's first day of the 2018 Ripon College Invitational. The Red Hawks opened the day with a two-hour and fifteen minute match in which they defeated Lawrence University 24-26, 25-18, 25-20, 24-26, 17-15, before ending the day with a nearly two-hour match, losing to Carroll University 14-25, 25-18, 26-24, 22-25, 10-15).

The first match of the day saw 34 ties and 14 lead changes, including five in the fifth and final set. Ripon (5-5) finished with 60 kills and a hitting percentage of .121, while Lawrence (1-11) recorded 52 kills and a hitting percentage of .162. Ripon fell behind 4-1 early in the fifth set, but rallied for the victory.

Emily Allard posted team-highs of 17 kills, four service aces, and 19 digs against the Vikings. Aubreigh Zimmerman added 13 kills and a hitting percentage of .242, to go along with four digs, while Brooke Bauer chipped in with 10 kills and Kaylie Marks added nine and two blocks. Freshman Inesha Wiseman led the Red Hawks with five blocks (two solo), in addition to seven kills, while Olivia Heck added a career-high 50 assists, which is just four shy from ranking in the top 10 in school history for a single match.

Lawrrence was led by Arianna Neumeyer, who led the team in kills (26), hitting percentage (.277), digs (24), and blocks (7). Lawrence held the edge in team blocks by a 14-5 margin.

Ripon's second game of the day featured 16 ties and four lead changes. After entering the fourth set with a 2-1 lead on Carroll (6-4), Ripon got out to a 9-6 lead in that frame, but couldn't hold onto that lead, forcing a fifth set, in which Ripon never led.

Allard and Bauer led the Red Hawks in their second match with 12 kills apiece, while Bauer also produced a hitting percentage of .265. Zimmerman added nine kills and a team-high 19 digs, while Heck recorded five kills, to go along with a team-high 40 assists, which marks her third 40-plus assist match of the season. Heck also led the team with four service aces, to go along with 16 digs. Melinda Boehm also chipped in with a team-high four blocks (one solo).

Carroll was led by Cassidy Mrotek's 13 kills, 23 digs, and three service aces. Sydney Wilkins added 12 kills for the Pioneers.

Ripon will wrap up the 2018 Ripon College Invitational on Saturday when they'll play Central and Wisconsin Lutheran at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively, at Weiske Gymnasium inside Willmore Center. Those matches can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.