NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College volleyball team lost both matches of a Saturday double header against Nebraska Wesleyan University (NWU) by the scores of 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-15) and 3-0 (25-22, 25-8, 25-10).

Match 1

The Knights battled the Prairie Wolves in each of the three sets, but could not avoid the 3-0 sweep in the first match.

After taking the first set 25-17, the Prairie Wolves held off a late MLC charge to win the second set 25-23 before finishing off the match with a 25-15 win in the third and final game.

Kelsey Birschbach led MLC with nine kills to go with 10 digs, while Lauren Paulsen also had a strong match on the attack with seven kills and a .375 attack efficiency. 

Kate Aswege led the Knights with 12 digs, while Kylie Wolf had 15 assists. 

Match 2

MLC was unable to recover from an NWU first-set comeback in a 3-0 defeat in the second match of the day.

The first set had wild swings in both directions, as the Knights reeled off seven straight points to take a 22-20 lead, but the Prairie Wolves scored the next five points to win the set 25-22.

The Knights struggled to overcome the first set defeat, as NWU raced to big leads in each of the next two sets to win the match 3-0.

MLC struggled on the attack in the second match, with Birschbach and Paulsen leading the team with four kills apiece. Aswege led all players with 17 digs, while Paulsen and Birschbach each added seven.

MLC fell to 0-3 on the season following the two defeats. NWU improved to 2-0 with the two wins.

The Knights will return to action on Wednesday, September 8, when they travel to Macalester for a match scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.