RIPON, Wisconsin — The Ripon volleyball program played two competitive matches on Saturday to round out its own Red Hawks Invitational, falling 3-2 to Saint Mary's (Minn.) and 3-1 to Hamline at Weiske Gymnasium.
Ripon (6-6) dropped a tight 25-17, 26-24, 13-25, 12-25, 13-15 match to Saint Mary's (8-5) before losing to Hamline (5-7) 25-23, 19-25, 12-25, 18-25.
The Red Hawks could not have asked for a much better start in the opener - Ripon never trailed in the first set against SMU and won the set by eight. Ripon grabbed a 6-2 lead, and though Saint Mary's cut its deficit to one, Ripon held its own to command the set. A trio of 3-0 runs had Ripon leading 23-14, and an attack error by the Cardinals gave Ripon the first set.
Set two was tighter, but a 7-0 run put the hosts up 8-4. Saint Mary's climbed back into it and took a 19-14 lead following a 10-1 run, but Ripon would not go away. Facing a 23-22 deficit, kills by
Haylee Kast and
Lainie Heizler, combined with three service aces by
Emily Braun and
Bella Kasuboski, gave Ripon a 2-0 lead in the match.
In set three, the Cardinals raced out to an 11-5 lead and its only deficit of the set was 1-0. Ripon made it a 13-11 game after a kill by
Ellie Ove, but an ensuing 12-2 SMU run kept the Cardinals alive.
SMU dominated set three, jumping out to a 16-4 run after a 9-0 run in the middle portion of the frame. Ripon never got closer than 11 in the set and the teams headed to a deciding fifth set.
Set five was competitive as the SMU held a 7-5 lead, but a 3-0 Ripon run put the Red Hawks in front. Ove connected on a kill to tie the match at 13, but a kill and a Ripon attack error gave the Cardinals the match.
Nickie Shaw had 16 kills, while Kast had eight and Ove tallied seven. Braun collected a match-high 30 assists, and three Red Hawks had double digit totals in digs:
Michaela Riege (16), Braun (15) and
Samantha Differt (14).
SMU had a 53-42 edge in kills and a 49-39 advantage in assists, but Ripon had more aces (12-8) and blocks (5-4).
Ripon came out swinging in the final match of the day. After Hamline took an early 8-6 lead, Ripon scored eight of the next nine points and went up 14-9 before Hamline rallied. A late 5-1 run by the Pipers evened things at 23, but a kill by Ove and an ace by Kasuboski gave Ripon the set.
After the teams went back and forth in the opening moments of the second set, Hamline took charge with a 7-1 run to lead 15-10. Though Ripon knotted the set up at 15 soon after, the Pipers scored 10 of the last 14 points in the frame, evening the match at one apiece.
Hamline commanded set three to take a 2-1 lead. The visitors pulled in front 12-5, and a 4-0 run moments later made it a double-digit advantage. Hamline ended the set by scoring five of the last six points heading into the fourth set.
The teams were even in the first few stretches of set four. After Ripon held multiple four-point leads, Hamline went on a 7-0 run to take the lead for good. Ripon made it a 19-16 game after a kill by Shaw, but the visitors ended the set with back-to-back kills to collect the win.
Ove had a team-high 15 kills on 32 swings, while Shaw again was in double digits with 13 kills. For her efforts, Ove was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Karly Riverdahl had 27 assists for Ripon, while Riege (12) and Riverdahl (10) amassed double digit digs.
Hamline had advantages in kills (53-40), aces (11-5), blocks (7-3), assists (46-36) and digs (57-47).
Ripon heads back down to Milwaukee next Saturday (September 21) for a triangular at MSOE. Ripon first plays Beloit in a non-conference match at 2 p.m. before taking on the host Raiders at 4 p.m.
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