RIVER FALLS, Wis. (uwrfsports.com) - The Falcons split their first two games of the season at the St. Olaf/Carleton Invitational on Friday by defeating Macalester in five sets and falling to St. Olaf in four sets.

UW-River Falls grinded out the win after going down two sets to one to Macalester in game one. The Falcons controlled the first half of the fourth set, but they let the Scots get on a run after they led 17-16. UWRF quickly found themselves trailing 22-18, but a service ace from Dakotah Poitra helped spark a run that tied the game up at 23-23. The set continued until a kill by Poitra and an attack error by Macalester gave the Falcons the fourth set 29-27. UWRF got up big in the final set 5-1 before finishing off a 15-13 win.

Poitra led the way with 17 kills and two service aces in game one, and Hannah Striggow added 15 kills. Libero Hannah Robb had 29 digs for UWRF, but Macalester's Abrielle Dillon had the most overall with 39 digs. The game was tight throughout, as the Falcons only won one more point than the Scots and the teams had the same number of kills at 44. The biggest difference was the Falcons leading 12-8 in blocks.

Game two started the same as the first, with UWRF's opponent taking the first set. UW-River Falls bounced back to take the second set 25-23, which was capped off by two attack errors from St. Olaf after the set was tied at 23-23. The Lions took the second set convincingly 25-16 before closing out the game with a 25-19 fourth set.

Poitra stood out in game two by recording 18 kills, and Striggow had a bigger presence defensively with a game-high 20 digs. Mallory Griffin led the Falcons with four blocks and 19 assists while recording the second-most kills with eight.

UWRF drops to 1-1 after the loss to St. Olaf, who improved to 2-0. The Falcons will play Crown College at 9 a.m. on Saturday and finish out the tournament with a game against Carleton at 3 p.m.