RIVER FALLS, Wis. (uwrfsports.com) - The Falcons began the Milwaukee School of Engineering Tournament by sweeping their opening two games on Friday afternoon in Milwaukee. They defeated the hosts three sets to one before getting another win over Maranatha Baptist in four sets. 

The MSOE Raiders gave the Falcons a difficult time in the first set. Dakotah Poitra recorded a kill to make the set 29-28 in favor of UWRF, but two kills by Sarah Williams sealed the first set 31-29 for the Raiders. UW-River Falls came right back and tied it one set apiece after a 25-18 second set. The Falcons rallied for four straight points in the third set to win 25-23, which was capped off by a Hannah Robb service ace. UWRF closed out the match 25-23 in the fourth set after a block from Mallory Griffin and Karli Nielsen gave the Falcons a 24-23 lead before an error from the Raiders clinched a Falcon win.

Poitra continued to lead the way for UWRF this season in game one with 15 kills and 14 digs. Robb had three service aces and a team-high 28 digs against the Raiders. MSOE finished with a better hitting percentage in game one at .127 compared to the Falcons at .104. The second set was the most one-sided, as the Falcons had a .200 hitting percentage and the Raiders finished at .000. 

The Falcons had a disastrous start against Maranatha Baptist in game two by dropping the first set 25-9 to the Sabercats. UWRF responded by winning the final three sets 25-20, 25-13, 25-20. Poitra's kill in the second set made the score 9-1, but the Sabercats steadily worked back into the game before the lead was cut to 20-19. Two kills by Nielsen helped secure the second set, which was quickly followed by a fast-paced third set that saw the Falcons up by as many as 13 points. Maranatha put up a bigger fight in the fourth set to make it 18-16, but UWRF ultimately prevailed after service errors and bad sets cost the Sabercats down the stretch.

Nielsen led the Falcons with 13 kills in game two, while Corynne Dahl had the most aces and blocks with three apiece. Hailey Huseth and Mallory Griffin each had 20 assists, and Robb added another 20 digs in game two. UWRF also had 18 more assists than the Sabercats. 

With the wins the Falcons move to 4-2 on the season and will face Alverno at noon and Benedictine at 2 p.m. on Saturday. UWRF is 1-0 all-time against Alverno and 4-0 all-time against Benedictine.