KENOSHA, Wis. – Despite hitting a season-high .324 the UIndy volleyball squad fell 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 28-26, 25-18) to Wisconsin-Parkside Friday night in a hard-fought GLVC East matchup, dropping to 4-10 (2-3 GLVC) for the season.

UIndy was led by junior Becca Lira, who racked up 21 kills while hitting .265, and senior Hailey Brown, who finished with 14 kills and a .324 attack percentage.

"Tonight was a tough loss for us," Third-year coach Jason Reed said, following the defeat. "The team is fighting very hard but we just aren't coming away with the wins.

"Our offense was really clicking today," Reed continued. "But we're playing not to lose instead of playing to win. As our group learns to change their mindset I think we'll start to win some of these matches."

The home squad immediately put pressure on the Greyhounds, racing to an 11-4 lead in the first set. UIndy responded with an impressive run, forcing Parkside to use both its timeouts late in the game after pulling within one, 22-21. The Rangers avoided the letdown, however, winning three of the final four points to take a 1-0 match edge.

Set two was a nail-biter right out of the gate, but Lira took over to help UIndy tie the match with a 25-23 win. With the score tied at 19-19, Parkside scored consecutive points to force Reed to call his first timeout. After the break, Lira came up with four kills in the Hounds' final five points, finishing the set with nine kills.

The third set began much like the first, with Parkside jumping out to an early lead at 14-8. After a UIndy rally that saw the Hounds take a 23-21 lead, the Rangers finished strong and won 28-26 to take a 2-1 match advantage.

The Rangers led for most of the fourth set, and held off the Hounds to seal the match with a 25-18 set victory.

Freshman setter Maggie Gibson – filling in for an injured Natalie Wichern – tallied 51 assists running the Greyhound attack.

"Maggie did a great job coming in and set one heck of a match," Reed noted. Gibson's decision making helped UIndy tally its season-high attack percentage.

Katie Voelz recorded eight kills and hit .667 (8-0-12), and Shelby Ruffner finished with seven kills.

Defensively, freshman libero Bri Heffernan led the team with 17 digs, followed by Brown's 15. Lira, Ruffner and Voelz each had three block assists.

The Greyhounds will look to snap their three-match losing skid Saturday with a pair of matches in Romeoville, Ill. First, UIndy meets No. 23 Lewis at 3 p.m., followed by Kentucky State at 6 p.m. in a neutral-site affair.

NOTES
- The Hounds and Rangers have now met 38 times dating back to 1992. UIndy leads the series 21-17, winning 16 of the last 19 meetings.
- Gibson made her first collegiate start against the Rangers, competing in her third overall match this season.
- Brown's 14 kills matches a season high for the senior outside hitter.