OSHKOSH, Wis. - The Martin Luther College volleyball team lost a pair of close matches on the first day of the Pizza Hut Invitational hosted by UW-Oshkosh on Friday. The Knights lost 3-2 (25-9, 14-25, 16-25, 25-18, 18-16) to Carroll to open the tournament, and then lost 3-1 (25-23, 26-24, 23-25, 25-19) against Lawrence to finish the day.

Carroll 3, MLC 2

The Knights were unable to close the match against Carroll to open the tournament in a 3-2 loss by the scores of 25-9, 14-25, 16-25, 25-18 and 18-16.

MLC overcame a tough first set to take a 2-1 lead in the match, but Carroll forced a fifth and deciding game by winning the fourth set.

In the final set, the Knights jumped out to an 8-1 lead, but were unable to hold on as Carroll came back to win the set 18-16 and take the match.

Jade St. Germaine finished with a team high in both kills (11) and blocks (seven). Rylee Weisensel hit .462 and finished with seven kills.

Emily Neeb led MLC with 14 digs, while Emily Byhardt finished with a team-best 22 assists.

Lawrence 3, MLC 1

MLC batted back and forth with Lawrence in the second match of the day, but lost in four by the scores of 25-23, 26-24, 23-25 and 25-19.

St. Germaine once again led the Knights with 15 kills. Weisensel and Grev combined for 15 kills, and hit .333 and .318, respectively.

Taylor Weber led the team with 12 digs.

The Knights fell to 2-5 on the season with the two defeats.

MLC will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, September 10) at UW-Oshkosh. The first match is against MSOE at 10 a.m., and will be followed by a match against St. Norbert at 12 p.m.