MACON, Ga. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's volleyball team dropped two contests to open the Mercer University Tournament.
 
The Knights lost the first match of the day to the host team, Mercer 3-1 before falling to USC Upstate 3-1.
 
The Knights found themselves in a familiar situation in the first match. After falling behind 2-0, by scores of 25-16 and 25-19, respectively, Fairleigh Dickinson came back to win the third set 25-21 to force a fourth set but Mercer closed it out with a 25-21 win.
 
The Knights fell behind 5-1 in the first, which set the tone for the rest of the set. Fairleigh Dickinson continued to battle and brought the score within three points, several times. Mercer scored four in a row to break open the score to 16-10 and the Knights could not get any closer than a five-point gap. The Bears closed things out on a kill by Danielle Faust.
 
The second set started out much closer than the first, with the two teams trading points. The Bears outscored the Knights 7-1 to take a 13-8 lead. Fairleigh Dickinson slowly started chip away and eventually took the lead after a kill from Caroline Laton (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) tied things, 14-14. The Knights built up a three-point lead but Mercer tied things up 18-18. The Bears went on to outscore Fairleigh Dickinson 7-1 to win the set.
 
After the Knights scored the first two points of the third set, the Bears tied things up and took the lead. Mercer built up a 12-8 lead before the Knights scored six straight points, tying the set 13-13. The set went back-and-forth for several points and was tied again, 19-19. Fairleigh Dickinson scored three in a row to take a lead, kept it the rest of the set and eventually won it on a service ace from freshman Kirstin Trabert (Corona, Calif./Norco) to force a fourth set.
 
The fourth and final set was another close one between the Knights and the Bears. Fairleigh Dickinson tied things, 5-5, on a service ace from Carly O'Sullivan (Bogota, N.J./Bogota). The Knights took a lead and kept it until the Bears tied the score, 10-10 on a block. The set was tied three more times before Mercer scored five in a row to take a 23-19 lead. A Paige Alsten kill ended the set and the match.
 
In the second match of the day against USC Upstate, the Knights won the first set 25-21 before falling in the final three sets by scores of 25-22, 25-22 and 26-24.
 
In the first set against the Spartans, the teams exchanged points until a kill from Savanna Wray (Peoria, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) tied things 10-10. The Knights went on to score four more points to take a 14-10 lead. The Spartans slowly started to chip away and eventually tied things up 16-16. Fairleigh Dickinson broke the tie by score four points in a row, taking a 23-19 lead. The Knights closed things out on a kill from Laton and a Spartans' attack error.
 
The Knights scored the first three points of the second set before the Spartans came back and eventually tied things 6-6. USC Upstate continued to build on that lead, bringing it up to as many as seven points. Despite the Knights closing the gap to 22-21, the Spartans finished the set with a kill from Callie Yeargin.
 
The Knights took a 6-1 lead in the third set and remained in the lead until the Spartans finally tied things, 17-17. The teams traded points and the Knights took a 19-18 lead on a Laton kill. That was the last lead Fairleigh Dickinson had as the Spartans outscored the Knights 7-3.
 
USC Upstate jumped out to a 4-0 lead to open the fourth set but the Knights evened things out and eventually took a 7-6 lead. The Knights led by as many as five points after a kill from Erika Sullivan (Elk Grove, Calif./Pleasant Grove) brought the score to 20-15. USC Upstate scored three points in a row and then another two to cut the Knights' lead to 21-20. The Knights maintained a 24-22 lead until the Spartans scored four straight points to win the set and the match.
 
Rebecca Sabol (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) finished with 31 kills on the day while Laton recorded eight blocks. Kirstin Trabert (Corona, Calif./Norco) tallied 85 assists and Carly O'Sullivan (Bogota, N.J./Bogota) finished with 43 digs.
 
The Knights are back in action tomorrow against Towson at 10 a.m. in the final game of the Mercer Tournament. Live stats will be available for the match against the Tigers.