DUBUQUE, Iowa— Stepping out of conference play for the first time in three weeks, the Ripon volleyball program suffered a 3-1 defeat (16-25, 9-25, 25-20, 16-25) at Loras on Friday night at the Lillis Athletic and Wellness Center.
 
After Loras (12-11) took multiple three-point leads in the early going of set one, a kill by Haylee Kast and an ace by Emily Braun brought Ripon (7-13) to within one at 9-8. From there, the Duhawks scored six of the next seven points, pushing their lead to 15-9 and prompting a Ripon timeout. Though Ripon scored the first point out of the timeout, the Red Hawks couldn't come closer than five the rest of the frame and dropped set one 25-16.
 
Ripon took an early 4-3 lead in set two, but Loras rattled off the next 10 points to pull ahead 13-4. The Red Hawks called their second timeout of the frame trailing 15-5, but Loras continued to string points together and held its biggest lead of the set to date at 20-6 on the heels of a 17-2 run. Makenna Harren had a pair of kills in the set for Ripon, but the Red Hawks headed into set three down 2-0 in the match.
 
The Red Hawks came out strong in set three, scoring four of the first five points and taking a 13-9 lead after a 6-0 spurt that included a trio of service aces by Sophia Brinker. Loras would not go away, eventually taking a 16-15 lead before Ripon scored the next three. The Red Hawks led 23-18 late, but the Duhawks made a late push – Ripon's lead was 23-20 before back-to-back kills by Harren gave the Red Hawks a 25-20 set win.
 
Loras scored five of the first six points in set four, but Ripon charged back and came within one at 12-11 following a Duhawk attack error. From there, the hosts went on a 4-1 run to open up a 16-12 advantage to take command of the set. Loras kept a lead of at least three points for the remainder of the frame, eventually winning the stanza 25-16.
 
Nickie Shaw had a team-high eight kills for Ripon, while Harren had seven and Lainie Heizler tallied five. Braun collected 25 assists, and Michaela Riege notched 23 digs. Samantha Differt tallied 13 digs to help Ripon's cause defensively.
 
Loras had a slight 38-30 lead in kills, though Ripon had 11 aces to the Duhawks' seven. Loras had 18 blocks to Ripon's three and held advantages in assists (29-28) and digs (68-67).
 
Ripon takes on MSOE and St. Norbert in a triangular hosted by SNC on Tuesday, October 22. The Red Hawks face MSOE at 6 p.m. and the host Green Knights at 8 p.m.
 
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