WATERTOWN, Wis. -- Against a red-hot Wisconsin Lutheran College side, the Sabercats went the distance but came up short, falling for the second consecutive match in five sets at home.

The hard-hitting Warriors showed their power, logging 66 kills compared to 47 from MBU. WLC had double-digit kills in every set and four players with 13 or more in the match.

THE OVERVIEW

• Result: Maranatha 2-3 WLC (18-25, 28-26, 16-25, 25-19, 16-18)
• Venue: Maranatha Baptist University
• Location: Watertown, Wis.
• Attendance: 249
• Record: MBU (8-6), WLC (10-5)

THE STORY

Things started the way the Sabercats hoped, as three early kills from Karley Johnson set the tone for the night ahead. But just as the Sabercats began sharply, the momentum stopped when five straight miscues from MBU put the Warriors right back in it. The competitive opening stages were a sign of a long, competitive night ahead. WLC showed what they were about, as an attack line of 15-2-37 gave the Warriors a 25-18 win and a 1-0 advantage in the match.

For all intensive purposes, the second set seemed to be falling in WLC's favor on multiple occasions. The Warriors held 15-8 and 22-17 leads, but Maranatha wasn't going to go down without a fight. Despite the Warriors having set point at 24-22, a kill from Claire Hansel tied things at 24, and from then on, the Sabercats forced some miscues out of the Warriors to take a dramatic second set, 28-26.

In the third set, an ace from Jessica Ureke set the score at 17-16 in favor of Wisconsin Lutheran. The set seemed to be heading for a tight finish, but the Warriors had other plans. WLC strung together eight unanswered points (the longest streak on the night by anyone) to put an exclamation point on the set and to position themselves for a short night's work. In the third set, the Sabercats registered a team-low four kills.

Three straight aces from Karley bolstered the Sabercats' confidence in the fourth set, as the hosts ran out to a 14-7 lead - a lead that they wouldn't give back. Maranatha had five different players contribute a combined total of eight kills in the set. After a 25-19 win from MBU, the home fans, the Crazies, and the players were on their feet - one more set would decide it.

The momentum quickly dissipated, however. Just after the final set began, excessive outside humidity rendered the floor unplayable, and the match was delayed for approximately 25 minutes.

Once play resumed, the Sabercats had momentum when they jumped out to a 10-6 lead off a kill from Kelsey Johnson. But the Warriors refused to go away, as Alyssa Charron and Mercedes Pye finished off some lengthy rallies with some pinpoint kills. The set went into a tie, and the long night of competition finally came to a close when Cassidy Johnson's ace ended the match. Of the WLC points in the final set, 13 of the 18 came from kills.

THE STATS

• Gabrielle Carpenter led Maranatha with a career-high 12 kills
• McKenzie Janke had a career-high 29 digs as she led the defense
• Karley was one dig shy of a triple-double (11 K, 18 A, 9 D)
• Kelsey was one kill shy of a triple-double (9 K, 20 A, 17 D)
• Mercedes Pye, Britley Grulke, Abby Raasch, and Alyssa Charron all registered double-digit kills for WLC
• Cassidy Johnson distributed 53 assists for the Warriors.
• Series: MBU leads the all-time series, 38-21

THE OPPONENTS

• The Warriors are members of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC)
• WLC entered tonight's match on a four-match winning streak
• So far, the Warriors are 2-0 in NACC play
• Tonight's match makes WLC the third-most-frequent opponent in Maranatha Women's Volleyball history

THE OUTLOOK

Saturday, the Sabercats will travel to Naperville, Illinois to compete at the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament hosted by North Central College. Play begins at 4:00 p.m. for MBU. Follow live stats at mbusabercats.com/composite.