RIVER FALLS, Wis. (uwrfsports.com) - UW-River Falls couldn't find their first WIAC win of the year on the road on Friday night, dropping three sets to UW-Whitewater 25-19, 25-19, 25-20.

Karli Nielsen had three kills in the opening stages to keep the Falcons within two points of the Warhawks at 9-7. She added two more kills in the set but was countered by four kills from UW-Whitewater's Rachel Butterfield. The Warhawks went on a 4-0 run after leading 18-14 that was capped off by an ace from Emma Aske. Ashton Doll recorded a kill to make it set point at 24-16, but the Falcons fought back to win three consecutive points. However, Dakotah Poitra recorded a service error to end the set at 25-19.

The Falcons jumped ahead 4-0 in the second set from a Corynne Dahl kill and a block from Dahl and Hannah Striggow. The Warhawks would use two kills each from Butterfield and Aske to go on their own 6-0 run, and they never trailed again in the set. Nielsen, Striggow and Poitra each recorded two kills in the middle stages of the set, but the Warhawks went on a 7-1 run on three kills and two blocks to make it 20-13. Mallory Griffin hit two service aces to draw it closer at 20-16, but Kelley Berk had three kills in the closing stages before Emily Gillen finished with a kill of her own to also take the second set at 25-19. Both teams had six attacking errors in the second set, but UW-Whitewater had 10 more kills than UWRF at 18 total.

The Warhawks jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the third set to quickly take a commanding lead. Numerous kills from Doll, Aske and Gillen stretched the lead to 12-3 and later 18-8. UWRF completely flipped the script after trailing by 10, going on an 11-1 run. Six attacking errors from the Warhawks, two which were blocks, and an ace from Dahl helped tie the game up at 19-19 and give the Falcons some life. UW-Whitewater responded by winning six of the last seven points, with Aske recording two more kills and a block. Griffin ended the game on a service error, and the Falcons lost their third consecutive WIAC game of the season. UWRF has lost their last 14 WIAC matchups, last beating UW-Platteville in 2016. 

Nielsen led the team with 10 kills and three blocks, while Hailey Huseth had the most assists with 12. Hannah Robb also had a game-high 19 digs. Berk had the most blocks with five, and KellyAnn Sotiros had the most assists with 26 for UW-Whitewater.

The Falcons are now 10-10 and 0-3 in conference play. They will play Loras College at 11 a.m. and Dubuque at 1 p.m. in Dubuque, Iowa on Saturday.