NORTHFIELD, Minn. - The Martin Luther College volleyball team split its first two matches of the season at a tournament hosted by St. Olaf on Friday. The Knights lost to Carleton 3-1 (25-18, 25-5, 21-25, 25-12), but defeated Crown 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-20) to finish the day.

Carleton 3, Martin Luther 1

The Knights were unable to come back from two sets down in a 3-1 loss to Carleton to open the season.

Carleton jumped out to a commanding 2-0 lead in the match, but MLC battled back to force a fourth set. The Knights, who struggled to a -.219 attack percentage in the second set, hit .231 in the third to force the extra game.

That would be as far as they could push the match, however, as Carleton won the final set 25-12.

Carleton finished the match with an attack percentage of .304, compared to .050 for MLC. Jade St. Germaine led MLC with eight kills, while Emily Neeb finished with a team-best 16 digs.

Martin Luther 3, Crown 0

MLC rebounded from its opening defeat by sweeping Crown 3-0 in the nightcap of its double header.

The Storm pushed the Knights in the first set, tying the score at 23-23 before Rylee Weisensel and Grace Schultz closed the game with kills to give MLC the lead in the match.

The Knights would cruise from there, dominating the second set 25-14, and then finishing the third set on a 5-1 run to close the match.

St. Germaine led all players with 12 kills and hit .333 in the match, while Kira Grev finished with ten kills and an attack percentage of .348. Emily Byhardt (18 assists) and Heidi Moldenhauer (17 assists) were each strong setting up their hitters during the match.

MLC is now 1-1 on the season, and will return to action at the St. Olaf Tournament tomorrow (Saturday, September 3) when it faces Macalester (9 a.m.) and St. Olaf (11 a.m.).