APPLETON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University volleyball team dropped a pair of tight sets to start the match Tuesday, and Alverno College used that momentum to post a 3-0 nonconference win over the Vikings at Alexander Gymnasium.
    The Inferno stopped Lawrence 25-22, 25-22, 25-14.
    Hilirie McLaughin led Lawrence with 10 kills and hit .320 for the match. Aliana Butler-Gray and Kylie Naylor added five kills apiece for the Vikings. Marife Entenza led the Vikings with a pair of aces and picked up six digs.
    Dana Mestey posted 20 kills for the Vikings and made several spectacular plays on her way to 14 digs. Libero Kali Pfannerstill also was solid defensively and picked up 12 digs.   
    The opening set was a see-saw affair and Alverno was able to build several leads of four points, but the Vikings battled back each time. Alverno led 13-9 before a Naylor kill led a burst of four straight points to tie the score at 13-13. The Vikings later got a kill from McLaughlin, a Daphnie Piotrowski ace and a kill by Mikala Seymour to grab an 18-17 lead. The teams swapped the lead multiple times after that before an attack error by the Inferno tied the set at 22-22. Alverno then got three consecutive kills to close out the set.
    The second set was more of the same as the teams traded the lead multiple times. An Alverno service error and an attack error lifted Lawrence to a 19-17 lead. Alverno scored the next five points to go up 22-19, but Lawrence came right back with kills by Naylor and Butler-Gray, sandwiched around an Entenza ace, to tie the set at 22-22. Alverno then scored the next three points to close out the second set for a 2-0 lead.
    The Inferno jumped on Lawrence early in the third set and rolled out to a 15-6 lead. Lawrence closed to 19-12, but Alverno scored the next five points to seal the victory.
    Lawrence returns to action Friday and Saturday when its hosts a five-team tournament.