Alverno College Athletics - Home of the Inferno

MILWAUKEE -- The Alverno College women's volleyball team showed flashes of defensive brilliance and power at the net in the second set of its Northern Athletics Conference match with Wisconsin Lutheran College to register a 26-24 victory, but couldn't sustain the momentum as the squad dropped the match, 3-1, and went on to concede a non-conference bout to North Park University, 3-0, to close out Saturday's triangular in the Reiman Gymnasium.

The Inferno's (0-22, 0-8 NAC) victory in set two against the Warriors was the first set win in league play so far this season, also snapping a 48-set conference losing streak dating back to Oct. 3, 2008, against Concordia University Wisconsin.

"We talked and were aggressive in the second set," said Alverno head coach Crystal McClure. "We went after every ball and bodies were hitting the floor. Then the mentality kicked in that we still had two more sets to play, and we shut down after we lost the third one."

Alverno dropped the third and fourth sets to the Warriors, 25-10 and 25-11, in addition to the first set, 25-14.

However, McClure was encouraged by the overall strength of her squad's offense in the match, as freshman middle blocker Rachel Diedrich (Two Rivers, Wis.) recorded a double-digit kills effort with 13 and junior setter Kim Reuter (Franklin, Wis.) tallied 22 assists, her third-highest total of the season.

"Our hitters were more productive," she said. "Granted, our hitting percentages are not where we would like them to be, but we were swinging. Roxanne (Kresmer) also did a good job from a defensive standpoint."

Kresmer, a freshman outside hitter from South Milwaukee, Wis., led the Inferno's back row with 12 digs followed by sophomore libero Kia Yang (Milwaukee, Wis./Riverside), who posted 10 digs.

In the Inferno's second match of the triangular versus North Park, the home squad never fully seemed to find its rhythm on the court as a team, dropping all three sets, 25-14, 25-12 and 25-13.

"In the North Park match, we got in our own heads and shut ourselves down," McClure said. "We played as individuals as opposed to playing as a team."

Diedrich posted the team-high in kills with six, while Reuter was digs leader with nine in addition to making 11 assists.

Alverno will look to regroup as it returns to NAC play on Wednesday, Oct. 14, with a home match against Marian University.

"They're going to be tough," McClure said of Marian. "But, we just have to keep trying hard, pushing forward and making improvements."

Match start time with Marian is slated for 7 p.m. in Alverno's Reiman Gymnasium.