DEKALB, Ill. – The Fairleigh Dickinson volleyball team split the first two sets with UC Riverside before ultimately falling 3-1 (13-25, 28-26, 23-25, 16-25) on Friday night at the NIU Invitational.
 
In the Knights' (0-2) second match of the day, freshman Mujay Mambu reached double-digit kills by tallying 13, while junior setter McKenna Setterlund totaled 19 assists in the loss. Mambu recorded 11 kills in her FDU debut earlier in the day against Northern Illinois.
 
Ashley Dittmann was the catalyst for UC Riverside (2-0) with 25 kills and five service aces in the victory.
 
After dropping the first set by 12 points, the Burgundy and Blue roared back to earn the second-set win 28-26. The Knights outlasted in the neck-and-neck set and overcame a 21-19 deficit by scoring five straight points. Sophomore libero Jaelyn Young served for the Knights during the rally and recorded a kill.
 
Trailing 26-25, Knights staved off set point with back-to-back kills by Magdalena Maksimovic and Jessica Throckmorton before Victoria Demmene sealed the win with a service ace.
 
The third set featured more of the same as the two teams traded leads throughout the frame. Down by two, Demmene and Mambu teamed up for consecutive kills and pulled the Knights even at 23-23. With the set tied, Dittmann closed it out for her team with a kill and service ace and put the Highlanders in front 2-1.
 
The Highlanders continued their momentum in the fourth set and after establishing a 10-2 lead never looked back en route to the win.
 
The Knights close out their trip to DeKalb tomorrow when they square off against SIU-Edwardsville at 12:00 p.m. (EST).