EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Kentucky Wesleyan College volleyball team dropped two heartbreaking matches at the Southern Indiana Invitational on Saturday. The Panthers were pushed to five sets twice and came-up empty to Arkansas Tech and Shorter.
 
The Panthers (5-6) played Arkansas Tech in the morning match. Tech hit .250 in the opening set and took a 1-0 lead after a 25-21 win. After dropping the first five points of the second set, the Panthers seized momentum. Wesleyan tied the set at 11 and later took a 14-12 lead after four straight points.
 
Late in the frame, the Panthers won six of seven points to get to set point, 24-19. Danielle Brouillette ended the set with a kill tying the match after a 25-21 win of the second. Wesleyan again distanced Tech in the third. After being tied at 15, the Panthers edged ahead and won seven of the last eight points to close out the frame 25-19. A service ace by Lydia Jackson was bookended by kills from Jaylen McEwen to collect the final three points of the set.
 
The Panthers continued to roll in the fourth set, taking a 17-9 lead. However, Tech flipped momentum and battled back. Tech won nine of the last 12 points to win the set and force a fifth set, 25-23. The Panthers' offense went cold in the fifth as Tech closed out the match, 15-8.
 
McEwen finished with 14 kills and 12 digs. Brouillette added 12 kills and five block assists. Jackson dished out 27 assists. Nilah Roy collected 24 digs.
 
In the finale, McEwen again reached double digits in kills as she finished with 10 in the five-set loss to Shorter. Wesleyan held an attacking percentage of nearly .400 in the opening frame to take a 1-0 lead after a 25-21 victory of the first set.
 
The offense was quiet in the second and third sets as Shorter took a 2-1 lead after 25-16 and 25-19 wins respectively. Wesleyan rallied in the fourth as they won 10 of 11 early points to jump ahead 12-3. The Hawks (6-5) responded with a rally of their own to tie the set at 15.
 
The Panthers won seven of eight points thereafter, including five in a row to build 22-16 lead. Sierra Morrow ended the frame with a block and kill, forcing a fifth set. Wesleyan led the fifth 8-4 and later 10-6, but five straight points by the Hawks turned the tables and allowed a 11-10 lead to Shorter. The Hawks won four of the last five points to win the match.
 
Brouillette added nine kills to complement McEwen. Jackson dished out 17 assists while Karrah Cron added 16 assists. Morrow recorded five block assists.
 
The Panthers will host Trevecca Nazarene on Friday. The match at Woodward Health and Recreation Center is scheduled to start at 7 PM.