ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst University volleyball team dropped a pair of matches in the first day of its own invitational. The Bluejays took both teams to five sets, but were unable to come away with a victory.
 
#22 Albion 3, Elmhurst 2

Elmhurst dropped its opening match of its own tournament to Albion College, 23-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-16, 9-15.

The Bluejays led by as many as four twice in the game before the Britons went on a 11-5 run to take the first set.

Elmhurst (6-13/3-4 CCIW) trailed by six multiple times in set two, but were unable to close the gap despite a 11-8 run to end the set.

The Bluejays dominated set three and four winning by closing out set three with a 10-1 run and leading by as many as 10 late in the fourth.

Albion (21-3/5-1 MIAA) led 3-2 early in the fifth set and never looked back, keeping its lead to take the match.

The Britons hit .169 as a team, finishing with 41 kills and 18 errors in 136 attempts. Leading the way for Albion was Chloe Webber who posted 14 kills and seven blocks, while Courtney Companion ended with four aces, three assists and 18 digs. Olivia Alexander chipped in eight kills, three aces and seven digs in the win, while teammate Mariah Brenz finished the match with a game-high 35 assists.

Elmhurst hit .203, finishing with 66 kills and 34 errors in 158 attempts. Jada Wiley finished with a game-high 16 kills and 23 digs. Elise Rossing followed closely behind with 13 kills and three blocks, while Lacey Kaiser chipped in 12 kills in the loss. Kellyn Kennedy led the team with 25 assists, while Erin Murray finished with 10 assists. Payton Ceh led the team with three aces and posted 17 digs.
 
Wisconsin-River Falls 3, Elmhurst 2

Elmhurst (6-14/3-4 CCIW) dropped the final contest of the first day of the Elmhurst University Invitational to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls 34-32, 24-26, 22-25, 25-20, 11-15.
The Bluejays took the first set, 34-32, after a back-and-forth battle between both squads.

The Falcons (19-10/1-5 WIAC) took sets two and three hitting a team-high .222 percent in the third set. Elmhurst tied the second set up at 24 apiece after trailing 21-17 late in the set, before falling 26-24. River Falls held onto at least a one-point lead for the remainder of the third set, after the Bluejays tied the game up at 11-11, to take 2-1 lead in the match.

Elmhurst bounced back in set four cruising past the Falcons after being tied at 18 with a 7-2 run.

River Falls dominated set five from the start. They boasted a 6-0 lead before Elmhurst got itself on the board. Elmhurst rattled off five straight points, while River Falls was just one point away from winning the match, but it wasn't enough to complete the comeback.

The Falcons hit .108 as a team, finishing with 62 kills and 42 errors in 186 attempts. Sami Hilley led the way with 18 kills and four blocks, while Brenna Olson chipped in seven aces and 21 digs in the win. Grace Boles finished with 25 assists and Hannah Polk posted 22 assists and 13 digs.

Elmhurst hit .175 as a team, finishing with 61 kills and 31 errors in 171 attempts. Jada Wiley posted 21 kills, three blocks and 11 digs, while Erin Murray added in 25 assists and three aces in the loss. Kellyn Kennedy chipped in 24 assists and Payton Ceh finished with a game-high 22 digs.

The Bluejays take on Ohio Wesleyan and UW-Oshkosh in day two of the tournament tomorrow.