ST. PAUL - The Martin Luther College volleyball team lost its non-conference match at Macalester 3-1 (25-18, 14-25, 25-23, 25-17) on Wednesday.

The Knights struggled to get much going in a first-set defeat, but came back to dominate the second set 25-14 to tie the match 1-1.

The teams went back and fourth in the important third set, with the Knights coming back from a late deficit to tie the game 23-23 before Macalester won the final two points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

The fourth set proved more of the same, as Macalester took control midway through the set and never looked back to win the match.

MLC struggled on the attack in the first and fourth sets, finishing with an attack efficiency of -.023 thanks to 31 attack errors. Kelsey Birschbach led the team with nine kills, while Hannah Willems added five.

The Knights did well on the block for much of the night, recording eight total blocks. Abigail Winkel led the team with four blocks, while Rhianna Hunter and Willems each finished with three.

Kate Aswege led the team with 23 total digs. Naomi Bridgemen finished with 18 digs.

MLC fell to 0-4 on the season in defeat. Macalester improved to 2-2 with the win.

The Knights will return to action this weekend when they play a tournament hosted by St. Catherine and Hamline.