Carroll Volleyball dropped their first match since September 4 on Wednesday night, losing their CCIW-opening match to Carthage (6-2, 1-0 CCIW) in straight sets. Carroll (13-3,0-0 CCIW) had their nine-match win streak snapped, the program's longest win streak of the century. The defeat was also the first time the team has been shutout this season. There were 17 ties and eight lead changes in the match, ultimately ending in the Firebirds' favor by scores of 25-23, 25-23, 25-18. 

Offensively, freshman Lizzy WIlliams led the Pioneers with nine kills and a .318 attack percentage. Kylie Wittnebel and Bronwyn Rowse were close behind, both contributing six kills in the match. Payton Depies led the team with 17 assists. Maggie McGough and Taylor Raley both had two aces to pace the Pios. Defensively, McGough led the way with 23 digs and Rebekah Andreae both contributed four blocks. 

SET 1  (25-23 Carthage) 

The in-state rivalry was on full display as both teams went back and forth throughout the set. With each team going on at least one 4-0 run. Williams tallied four of her kills in the opening frame as the Pioneers posted an attack percentage of .133. Half of Andreae's blocks came in set one. 

SET 2 (25-23 Carthage) 

Carroll came out of the second set with the first words, as Wittnebel registered kills on the four of the first six rallies. Carroll forced an early Carthage timeout with a score of 5-1 in the Pioneers' favor. Carthage responded with a mini-run of their own to tie the set at five. It was a back-and-forth battle with neither team separating by more than three points. With the score tied 23-23, Carthage would secure the set with a Kill and an attack error by Peyton Frost. Wittnebel spiked four of the team's 11 kills in the second set, while Depies tallied six assists. 

SET 3 (25-18 Carthage) 

Carroll ran out of steam in the final frame, as the Firebirds closed the set out with their highest attack percentage of the night at .229. The set opened with a 10-4 advantage to Carthage and Carroll couldn't pull closer than two points from there. Carthge closed the match out with a 6-1 run. Williams had her best set of the night with five kills and a .500 attack percentage. McGough had seven of her digs in the final frame and Andreae registered two more block assists. 

Carroll returns to action on Friday, September 20th at the Wisconsin Lutheran Triangular. The Pioneers look for a season sweep of Wisconsin Lutheran at 3 p.m., followed by Lake Forest at 7 p.m. in Milwaukee, Wis.