AURORA, Ill. – The Alverno volleyball team visited defending Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference champion Aurora on Friday evening from the Thornton Gymnasium, and fell by a straight-set decision, 3-0.

Alverno dropped the opening set by a 25-14 score followed by a 25-11 second set loss. Aurora took the match with a 25-7 third set decision.

The Inferno were led by freshman Kierra Sherlock, who tallied a match-high nine kills and nine digs for Alverno to extend her team lead to 166 kills on the season. Second on the team was junior Neilee Newton, who notched five kills on the match to reach triple-figures with 103 on the season following this evening's match.

Sophomore setter Alex McMath had 14 of the team's 17 assists on the night, while also registering the team's lone ace on the night. Defensively Alverno had seven digs apiece by junior Morgan Lemner, and sophomore Isabelle Gemza, while Newton had three and McMath added a pair.

The Inferno and Spartans were even through the first few rallies of the first set as McMath tied the score at two with a kill before Alverno tied the score again at three on an error by Aurora. An 8-1 run by the Spartans gave the home team an 11-4 lead by Sherlock connected on back-to-back kills to pull Alverno back within five. Alverno got to within four at 12-8 as McMath picked up a kill on a dish by Lemner.

Aurora extended its first-set lead to 15-8, before continuing on to a 19-10 and a 25-14 first set victory.

Alverno fell behind 8-1 in the second set and were unable to close the gap in the second as Aurora kept the Inferno at a comfortable distance before closing out the set by a 25-11 score.

The two sides kept it close in the early stages of the third set as Newton and Sherlock collected kills before another Sherlock kill make the score 6-5 in favor of the Spartans. However, Aurora went on a 10-point run before Newton connected on a kill. Following another seven-point run by the Spartans, Alverno collected one point before the Spartans finished off the set 25-7.

Alverno (1-19, 0-7 NACC) will head right back to Illinois tomorrow, for a 10 a.m. match against the Benedictine Eagles. The Inferno fell by a 3-0 score to the Eagles in early September in a non-conference game and will look to exact revenge on the Eagles on Saturday.