MEQUON, Wis. - After concluding its recent six-match home stand over the weekend, the Rockford University volleyball team opened a five-match road trip Tuesday night at Concordia University Wisconsin. Rockford entered the match looking to rebound after a few tough home losses and put itself in contention for a berth in the NACC Tournament. However, the Regents knew it would be a tall order to knock off the Falcons as they are one of the top teams in the NACC this season.

Following a difficult opening two sets, Rockford bounced back with strong performance in set three. The Regents got off to an excellent start and seized an early 8-5 lead. Rockford spread around the points during its early run getting kills from Kayla Kurz (Franklin Grove, Ill./Ashton-Franklin Center), Erin Pederson (Oregon, Ill./Oregon) and Ashley Simmons (Naperville, Ill./North). However, the Falcons struck back with a 12-5 run of their own to grab their largest lead of the set at 17-13. Rockford then used its defense to help spur a 5-0 run to recapture the lead. The Regents forced three Falcon attack errors with blocks from Erin Pederson and Peyton Achs (Erie, Ill./Eastland). The match then went back-and-forth for the next several points until the Regents and Falcons were tied at 23. Unfortunately Concordia Wisconsin scored the final two points to win the third set 25-23 and the match 3-0. 

Offensively Pederson and Kurz led the Regents with 6 and 5 kills respectively. Kurz also led the Regents with 2 solo blocks and 2 block assists while Pederson tallied one of each.

Defensively Taylor Rossi (Ingleside, Ill./Grant Community) and Katelyn Hasken (Lanark, Ill./Eastland) both tallied double-digit digs. Rossi led the Regents with 15 digs while Hasken recorded 10. 

The volleyball team continues its road trip on Friday, October 17 at Lakeland College. The match between the Regents and Muskies has a 7:00 p.m. start time.