MILWAUKEE – The Alverno volleyball team returned home on Saturday afternoon to host the Concordia Chicago Cougars and fell in a close three-set match. The Inferno fell in the opening set 25-14, before dropping a 26-24 second set and a 25-20 third set.

Alverno as a team had 28 kills in 99 attacking attempts led by freshman Kierra Sherlock with 12 kills, while junior Neilee Newton had eight kills. Sophomore Alex McMath tallied four kills, while freshman Kenzi Kaminski added three of her own. Senior Melanie Coffey rounded out the scoring with one kill.

McMath had 20 assists, while every other player on the roster had at least one assist including Newton with two, while junior Morgan Lemner also had a pair.

The Inferno had seven service aces with Coffey and sophomore Isabelle Gemza each tallying two aces apiece.

Lemner led the defensive effort with 15 digs in the match, while Gemza added nine digs. McMath and Sherlock each had six digs on the afternoon. The Inferno also recorded a pair of blocks on the match, both assisted efforts as Coffey, Newton, Kaminski and Sherlock each notched blocks on the afternoon.

The opening part of the first set was fairly even as the Inferno and Cougars played to a three-point spread through the 12-9 score. After a brief 3-0 spurt by the Cougars extended the lead to 15-9 the Inferno got a kill by Sherlock to short-circuit the Concordia rally. The Cougars then put together a 9-1 rally to put the set out of reach and win 25-14.

The second set saw eight separate ties through the first 20 points of the stanza as the score was even at 10 apiece. Neither side was able to take more than a two-point advantage until Concordia took a three-point lead at 23-20, which was answered by two-straight by Alverno to pull back within one. Sherlock registered an ace to even the set at 24, however the Cougars scored the next two points to win the set at 26-24.

In the third it was Alverno to jump out to a 7-3 lead as McMath picked up a point off a pass from Lemner to put the Inferno ahead by four. After a pair by the Cougars, Alverno got kills by Newton followed by a pair of Coffey aces before Newton put down another kill to increase the lead to 11-5. The pesky Cougars refused to go down without a fight and pulled back within one at 11-10.

A service error by Concordia Chicago gave the Inferno series once again as McMath followed with a service ace. Kaminski and Newton assisted on a block to put Alverno back ahead by four at 14-10. Concordia Chicago tied the score at 17 but it was once again Alverno to respond on a kill by Sherlock and an ace by Gemza. The Cougars scored the next four points, and ultimately outscored Alverno by an 8-1 margin to close out the set to earn the three-set sweep.

Alverno (1-14, 0-3 NACC) will look ahead to the month of October, when the team travels to St. Norbert for a non-conference tilt with the Green Knights slated for 7 p.m.