Minneapolis, MN - The Martin Luther College volleyball team played in its conference-opening match at North Central University on Saturday. Both teams split the first two sets before the Rams took control of the final two on their way to a win over MLC 3-1.

The Knights had a solid first set and it showed in the stat sheet with a .321 hitting percentage, but the Rams played slightly more efficiently as they took the set with a .364 hitting percentage for a 25-19 win. MLC then recorded 12 kills in the second set to even it up before committing 11 errors in the third set which proved to be the deciding factor in that one.

The fourth set saw a lot of back-and-forth action, as North Central edged out the Knights to hold onto the match, beating MLC 25-22 to seal the deal.

Lydia Feidt led MLC in the kills department (13), while Ella Walz (19) and Grace Kieselhorst (18) paced the Knights in assists for the match.

Both squads had almost identical stat lines, as North Central had the edge in total points (62-59) and kills (48-47). MLC had the advantage in aces (10-9) and assists (41-40), but their 24 errors opposed to the Rams' 16 proved to be a big factor in the outcome.

Up next for MLC volleyball (3-7) is another road contest, but this time it'll be at Macalester on Wednesday, September 18 at 7 p.m.