KENOSHA, Wis. – In its first matches against ranked teams this season, the fifth-ranked UW-Stevens Point volleyball team dropped a pair of five-set matches to 13th-ranked University of Chicago and eighth-ranked Carthage on Friday evening at the Carthage Invitational at Tarble Arena.
 
No. 13 University of Chicago 3, No. 5 UW-Stevens Point 2 | Box
 
The University of Chicago (9-1) won the final four points of the match after the final set was tied at 11-11 to hand UW-Stevens Point (10-1) its first loss of the season 18-25, 25-20, 25-18, 17-25, 15-11. The Maroons used a block, two kills and a service ace to finish the match on a 4-0 run.
 
The Pointers had recovered from a two-set-to-one deficit to force a decisive fifth set by taking the fourth set. Emma Brunkhorst (Germantown, WI/Germantown) led UW-Stevens Point with a match-high 20 kills and hit an even .400.
 
Ellen Drewry (Waunakee, WI/Waunakee) pitched in with 12 kills and Bella Nelson (Luck, WI/Luck) added 11 for UWSP, while Brittany Laffin (Carpentersville, IL/Hampshire) had 49 assists. Gabby Thomas (Henderson, MN/LeSueur-Henderson) and Bri Piepenbrok (Merrill, WI/Merrill) had 23 and 22 digs, respectively.
 
For the Marrons, Maren Loe led four players in double figures with 17 kills, Ragine Graves had 55 assists and Brooke Watson made 26 digs.
 
UW-Stevens Point hit a blistering .486 with 18 kills and just one error in winning the first set. However, Chicago won the next two sets by holding UWSP to a .125 hitting percentage in the second and third sets.
 
The Pointers got off to a 7-1 start in the fourth set before the Maroons climbed to within one at 10-9 only for UWSP to pull away late. Chicago outhit UW-Stevens Point .233-.094 in the final set.
 
No. 8 Carthage 3, No. 5 UW-Stevens Point 2 | Box
 
UW-Stevens Point (10-2) rallied from deficits of 6-2 and 12-9 in the fifth set to take a 14-13 lead but host Carthage (9-1) won four of the final five points to outlast the Pointers 21-25, 25-20, 25-19, 18-25, 18-16.
 
After trailing 14-13, the Lady Reds got kills from Stephanie Korbakes and Jamie Dickinson to send the fifth set into extra points. UW-Stevens Point saved a match point after a Carthage service error to make it 16-16 but the Lady Reds closed the match out with a kill by Emily Heuermann and a UWSP attack error.
 
Heuermann carried the Carthage offense with 27 kills and a .382 attack percentage. Korbakes and Dickinson were also in double figures with 12 and 11 kills, respectively, while Karen Chin totaled 59 assists.
 
Kelly Cefalu (Waunakee, WI/Waunakee) led UW-Stevens Point with 16 kills and added 21 digs and four block assists. Gabby Thomas (Henderson, MN/LeSueur-Henderson) also recorded a double-double of 13 kills and 18 digs, while Brunkhorst had 12 kills and six block assists.
 
Laffin, who ranks eighth in the country in assists per set, recorded a career-high 54 assists in the match. Piepenbrok led the Pointers with 23 digs, one behind Luci Krenzke's match-high 24 for Carthage. The Lady Reds outhit the Pointers .211-.143 but committed 12 service errors in the match.
 
The Pointers used a run of three straight points late in the first set to go up 24-20 and closed it out on a Lady Red service error. Carthage rallied back to take the next two sets to lead 2-1.
 
UW-Stevens Point raced out to a 10-3 lead early in the fourth set thanks to a 5-0 run. After trailing by as many as eight, Carthage got within four at 20-16 but could not get any closer as the match went the distance.
 
The Pointers face two more ranked teams on day two of the tournament on Saturday, Sept. 19. UWSP begins the day against No. 25 Dominican at 10 a.m. before closing the tournament against No. 14 Elmhurst at 2 p.m.