DUNBAR, Wis. -- With various team members forced to fill in at unfamiliar positions due to injuries, the Alverno College women's volleyball team dropped a non-conference match to Northland International University, 3-0, on Tuesday evening on the road.

"We struggled tonight as we were down to seven players with one not fully recovered from an injury," said Alverno head coach Crystal McClure. "Again, we were out of rotation and out of positions, but they did well at adjusting to their new positions in the second and third sets since we were simply not clicking in the first."

The Inferno's struggles showed in the first set, as the squad dropped a 25-5 decision before finding its stride a bit more in the second two sets. The team found more of a comfort zone at those new positions, but Northland was able to adjust to take the final two sets, 25-14 and 25-14.

Although the Inferno's line-up included sophomore Ashley Graham (Cudahy, Wis.), a 5-3 outside hitter, and sophomore Kia Yang (Milwaukee, Wis./Riverside), a 5-4 libero, playing as a middle hitter and an outside hitter, respectively, McClure was pleased with the way her players were able to adjust to unfamiliar positions.

"Our change-up made Northland struggle as they were used to a certain hitting style, but when we put other players in positions they don't normally play it took them some time to adjust to the individuals' playing style," McClure said. "Eventually they caught up and took the second and third sets, but we played much better than the first."

Alverno's coach has also been satisfied with the way freshman Sierra Miller (Dorchester, Wis./Colby), who tied with Graham for team kills leader with four on the night without a single hitting error, has blossomed becoming a more and more consistent middle blocker as the season has worn on.

"Sierra played very smart tonight," McClure said. "If I told her middle was open, she would tip middle and if I told her to hit at the deep corners, she did just that. While being out of position, the players were very coachable and understood what they had to do and how to pull things together as a team."

Yang led the back row for the Inferno with seven digs while junior setter Kim Reuter (Franklin, Wis.) chipped in nine assists.

The Inferno (0-27) will close out their season with one final non-conference match on Thursday, Oct. 29, at Mount Mary College. Match time is set for 7 p.m. in Milwaukee, Wis.