ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College volleyball team opened the Macalester Invitational with a pair of losses Friday night in the Leonard Center. The Scots, who fell to UW-River Falls in four sets and lost to UW-Platteville in three sets, are now 1-2 on the season.

Against UW-River Falls, Macalester dropped the first two sets, 25-15, 25-13 before storming back to take the third set, 25-14. As a team the Scots hit .357 in that set with 13 kills, including five apiece from senior Eliza King (Novato, Calif./San Marin) and first year Grace Watkins (San Angelo, Texas/Georgetown). But the Falcons responded with a 25-14 win in the fourth set to take the match. King finished with 13 kills and 12 digs, while Watkins had 11 kills. First year Maya Mortenson (Minneapolis, Minn./Spring Lake Park) and sophomore Nicole Norton (Brussels, Wis./Southern Door) split the setting duties and garnered 19 and 17 assists, respectively. Sophomore Torrance Williams (Houston, Texas/Yes Prep Northbrook) added 11 digs.

The evening's second match saw the Scots fall behind after a 25-19 loss in the first set to UW-Plattesville. In the second set, the teams battled back and forth, with Macalester leading 16-9 before the Pioneers rallied to gain the upper hand, 23-19. The Scots fought back to tie the score at 24, but a pair of kills by Kierney McDonald gave UW-Platteville a 26-24 win. Macalester failed to recover, falling 25-16 in the third set. Sophomore Adisa Preston (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) notched seven kills in the match, and sophomore Stephanie Geber (Oviedo, Fla./Oviedo) had six kills and four blocks. Norton delivered 21 assists, while Williams registered 17 digs in the loss.

The Scots close out their invitational on Saturday, Sept. 3 against Minnesota Morris at 10:00 a.m. and Luther at 12:00 p.m. in the Leonard Center.