APPLETON, Wis. – The Mount Mary University volleyball team dropped a pair of back-and-forth affairs to open its two-day slate at the Lawrence Invitational Friday. MMU fell to Maranatha Baptist to open the tournament, 25-22, 25-20, 29-27 before falling just short against Finlandia 16-25, 25-17, 25-14, 23-25, 17-15.

Mount Mary fell to 3-8 overall, while Maranatha improved to 1-8 and Finlandia to 4-4.

Maranatha Baptist 3, MMU 0

The Sabercats came out hungry for their first season victory after dropping a pair of five-set decisions at the Blue Angel Bash last weekend in Milwaukee. MBU's very efficient .309 team attack percentage ultimately proved the difference in a tight three-set sweep.

Sophomore Brianna Ecker (Fond du Lac, Wis./Stockbridge) tallied 15 kills on .419 hitting, nearly tripling her previous high in attack efficiency. Junior Emma Carufel (St. Francis, Wis./St. Francis) added nine kills and juniors Aislinn Strusz (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) and Jacklyn Mozdzen (Wautoma, Wis./Wautoma) each added five.

Freshman Emma White (Scottsdale, Ariz./Saguaro) doled out 24 assists to accompany her match-high four service aces while Mozdzen and freshman Ava Ramos (San Antonio, Texas/Marshall) picked up a team-high 12 digs apiece.

The third set featured pendulum-like runs as MMU held leads at 15-10 and 20-16, but simply could not put away a pesky Maranatha team. MBU earned the first match point at 24-22 before a three-point run made it 25-24 MMU. A pair of Ecker kills and a pair of MMU service errors yo-yoed the match to 27-25 before two attack errors and a match-ending kill finally sealed the win for the Sabercats.

Finlandia 3, MMU 2

The Blue Angels responded with a sound first-set win, but quickly found themselves in a dogfight with fellow Coast-To-Coast foe Finlandia in the nightcap.

Facing a 15-20 deficit in the fourth, kills from Ecker and freshman Morgan Vander Kooy (Fond du Lac, Wis./St. Mary's Springs) pulled the Blue Angels even at 21-21. The set would be finished off by four kills by Strusz and an untimely Lion service error to force the deciding fifth.

A back-and-forth fifth saw teams grappling for the advantage, which Maranatha found first at 14-13. An ensuing Carufel kill and service ace made it 15-14, but the Sabercats executed three straight kills to steal the match right back, 17-15.

Offense came from outsides Ecker and Strusz, who led with 14 and 13 kills respectively. Carufel added eight and Vander Kooy six, while White dished out 35 assists. Four players recorded double-digit digs led by Ramos' 20 and Ecker's 19. White offered up 16 digs and Mozdzen chipped in 15.

The Blue Angels will return to Appleton for day two of the Lawrence Invite Saturday afternoon, battling MSOE at 4 p.m. and the host Vikings at 6 p.m.