RIPON, Wis. - In what was truly a back-and-forth match, featuring a whopping 28 ties and 14 lead changes, Ripon lost to Bethany Lutheran in five sets to open their 2019 season at the Ripon College Quadrangular Friday night.

Bethany Lutheran (1-0) won the first set 27-25, before Ripon (0-1) seemed to take control of the match by winning the next two frames 25-22 and 25-21. BLC then forced a fifth set with a 25-21 victory in set four. In the final frame, Ripon fell behind 8-2, but used a 7-1 run to rally and tie the score at nine. That would be as close as they would get however, as Bethany Lutheran closed out the match with a 15-12 win in the final set.

Ripon recorded double-digit kills in each of the first four sets. They were led by Emily Allard and Inesha Wiseman, who finished with 14 kills apiece. Brooke Bauer and freshman Kaelyn Flairty also chipped in with nine kills apiece. Fellow freshman Ellie MacKenzie recorded a team-high 37 assists, while Micaela Encarnacion paced the team with a career-high 32 digs.

Bethany Lutheran was led by Mindy Poehler's 15 kills and .324 hitting percentage. Megan Rutt also chipped in with 12 kills, while Brittany Sanders recorded a team-high 26 assists and Veeva Lee posted 29 digs.

The Red Hawks will host the second and final day of the Ripon College Quadrangular on Saturday when they'll battle Finlandia and Dominican (Ill.) at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., respectively. All matches can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.