LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Mount Mary University volleyball team dropped a pair of matches Friday evening at Lake Forest College's Forester Invite, battling the hosts to a 25-22, 27-25, 25-8 decision before getting swept by Loras College 25-16, 25-11, 25-15.
The pair of defeats drop the Blue Angels to 0-3 on the year, while Lake Forest and Loras each finished Day One of the invitational at 2-0.
In the tournament opener, Mount Mary played point-for-point with Lake Forest throughout the first two sets, using a four-point run to erase a 24-21 deficit to claim its own set point in the second stanza. However, the Foresters came up with a pair of clutch executions to swing back momentum, ending the second set with a huge service ace.
Neither team was particularly efficient on offense throughout the match, but the Blue Angels tallied more kills than LFC in the first two sets (21-17) alone.
Sophomore outside Brianna Ecker (Fond du Lac, Wis./Stockbridge) led the Blue Angels with nine kills, narrowly missing the double-double to go with her 10 digs. Junior middle Emma Carufel (St. Francis, Wis./St. Francis) tallied seven kills on a team-high .278 hitting, and junior Aislinn Strusz (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) added five put-aways.
Freshman setter Emma White (Scottsdale, Ariz./Saguaro) dished out a match-high 20 assists and eight digs, while classmate Ava Ramos (San Antonio, Texas/Marshall) recorded a match-high 19 digs.
In the second matchup of the day, Loras raced out to substantial leads early in each set—including a 16-0 run midway through the second frame—in a match that lasted less than an hour. The DuHawks hit a blistering .366 as a team and held the Blue Angels to just a .051 attack percentage.
Ecker led MMU with eight kills and 13 digs, while White added 15 assists.
MMU will head back to Lake Forest for Day Two of the Forester Invite Saturday morning. The Blue Angels will battle Marian (0-2) at 10am, followed immediately by their tournament finale against Benedictine (0-2) at noon.
