RIPON, Wis. - Ripon's volleyball team hosted the first day of their annual two-day Red Hawks Invitational on Friday, splitting their two matches. The Red Hawks defeated Rockford University in three sets (25-19, 25-17, 30-28), before losing to UW-River Falls in three (25-22, 25-15, 25-20).

Against Rockford (2-6), Ripon recorded 43 kills as a team, while limiting the Regents to just 28. The Red Hawks came out firing with a .316 hitting percentage in the first set, which set the tone for the match. Arynn Mathieu led the way with 12 kills and 12 digs, while MaKenna Harmsen registered 10 kills and Inesha Wiseman finished with nine. Riley Nielsen racked up 39 assists, which is a season-high for a three-set match, while Micaela Encarnacion posted a match-high 25 digs.

In their second match of the day, Ripon managed 29 kills, while UW-River Falls finished with 33 and a hitting percentage of .219. Ripon was again led by Mathieu's 11 kills, to go along with her .259 hitting percentage. Wiseman added eight kills and eight digs. Nielsen again led Ripon in assists (20), while Sam Thrasher accounted for a match-high four service aces. Encarnacion's 19 digs also led the Red Hawks.

Ripon will conclude their 2021 Red Hawks Invitational on Saturday when they'll battle Luther College and Concordia-Chicago at Noon and 2 p.m., respectively. Those matches can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/#live.