LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Ripon volleyball team stumbled on the opening day of the Wisconsin-La Crosse Tournament on Friday, falling 3-0 at the hands of the host before closing out the day against Bethany Lutheran.
Inesha Wiseman led Ripon with four total blocks in the opener, while
Sam Thrasher's 12 digs and
Emily Braun's 15 assists led the way offensively.
Ellie Ove became the third different Red Hawk player to turn in a team-high in kills in a match this fall, joining Wiseman and
Lydia Ellis.
The Eagles settled into a rhythm early, taking the first set by a final tally of 25-12. The Red Hawks turned in their best set of the match in set two but were still unable to come away with the set win. The final set saw a tight battle before UWL ultimately prevailed 25-20 in the late going.
The nightcap produced much closer set scores, but the Vikings came away with set victories of 25-22, 25-23 and 25-21.
Wiseman picked up a team-high ten kills, giving her double-digit kills for the eighth time in the season's first ten matches.
Riley Nielsen came away with 14 assists, while Thrasher added another dozen digs to close out Friday.
The Red Hawks close out the event on Saturday with another doubleheader, with the first match coming against Wisconsin-River Falls at 11:00 a.m. Ripon finishes the weekend against Simpson at 3:00 p.m. before returning home for the next five matches.
