ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst volleyball team dropped suffered a pair of four-set losses on the second day of the Elmhurst Invitational. The Bluejays fell 3-1 to Alma College to open the day before closing the tournament with a 3-1 loss to Heidelberg University.
 
ALMA 3, ELMHURST 1 – Elmhurst dropped to 1-2 on the year following a 25-18, 20-25, 21-25, 27-29 loss to Alma.
 
Elmhurst hit .256 for the opening set as the Bluejays raced out to a 15-8 lead. Elmhurst led by as many as 10 points before cruising to the 25-18 win. Alma (3-0) led from wire-to-wire in the second, jumping out to a 6-1 lead and never looking back. The Scots opened up a seven-point cushion at 17-10 and Elmhurst came no closer than a four-point deficit for the remainder of the set.
 
Alma won 10 of the first 15 points in the third set to open up a 10-5 advantage. Elmhurst pulled to within a point at 15-16 and again at 18-19, but Alma answered the Bluejays' rally each time. Leading at 19-18, the Scots used a 4-1 run to open up a 23-19 lead before putting the set away at 25-23.
 
The Bluejays grabbed an early 13-10 lead before Alma answered back to pull even at 17-17. The Bluejays rattled off four point to grab a 21-17 advantage, but Elmhurst used a 5-1 run to even the score at 22-all. Back-to-back kills from Bailey Brouwer gave Elmhurst two set points at 24-22, but Alma won the next three points to take a 25-24 lead. Elmhurst fought off a pair of match points and took its third set point at 27-26, but three straight points from Alma sealed the match for the Scots.
 
Brouwer led Elmhurst's offense with 16 kills while Kayla Mast finished with 11. Ellie Burzlaff added nine kills while hitting .467 for the match. Taylor Zurliene finished with eight kills and 17 digs. Emily Finkbeiner totaled 32 assists and 15 digs while Valerie Thomas led the squad in digs with 20.
 
HEIDELBERG 3, ELMHURST 1 – Elmhurst slid to 1-3 on the season following a 20-25, 16-25, 25-20, 16-25 loss to Heidelberg.
 
Heidelberg (4-0) used a late push in the opening set to jump out to a 1-0 lead. With the sore even at 16-16 , Heidelberg closed the set with a 9-4 run. Heidelberg never trailed in the second, racing out to a 10-1 lead and cruising to the 25-16 win.
 
Elmhurst battled back in the third set as the two teams traded points for much of the set. The set featured 10 ties with neither squad leading by more than three points over the first 40 points. With the score even at 20-20, the Bluejays ripped off a 5-0 run to close the set sparked by kills from Zurliene, Mast and two from Burzlaff.
 
Heidelberg scored the first three points of the fourth set and never looked back, opening up a 10-2 lead. The Student Princes led by as many as 12 points before putting the set away at 25-16 to take the match in four.
 
Burzlaff hit .386 with a career-high 21 kills to lead Elmhurst in the loss. Emily Duis added nine kills and three blocks while Brouwer tallied seven kills. Mast finished with six kills and 14 digs. Finkbeiner totaled 27 assists and 14 digs while Hannah Horn added 15 assists for the Bluejays. Thomas led Elmhurst's defense with 24 digs.
 
Elmhurst plays at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Invitational next weekend (September 6-7).