RIVER FALLS, Wis. -- The St. Catherine volleyball team put up a fight on the road Tuesday night, forcing a decisive fifth set before falling 3–2 (23–25, 17–25, 25–21, 25–22, 12–15) to UW-River Falls inside Don Page Arena. The Wildcats (4–10) dropped the opening two frames but battled back with strong play in the third and fourth sets, extending the match but ultimately falling in the fifth. St. Kate's is 4-10 on the season as they open MIAC play on Friday. 

After slow offensive starts, St. Kate's found its rhythm in the third set, hitting .343 behind timely swings from Madison Fagan and Liz Rosen. Marta Haugen and Emily Bredman added depth, while setters Addison Pruess and Jalyn Wolle kept the offense moving.

The Wildcats collected 76 digs, led by Alexa Carlstrom with twelve, Preuss with ten digs, and Rosen with eight. At the net, Fagan and Rosen combined for four blocks. The Wildcats edged out a 25–21 win in Set 3 and followed with a hard-fought 25–22 victory in Set four to even the match. In the fifth, they trailed 9–5 but clawed back within two late before the Falcons sealed it, 15–12. 

In total, there were 25 ties in the match with ten lead changes but the Falcons rose to the top taking the non-conference match 3-2. 

St. Catherine opens MIAC play on Friday at Concordia College,Moorhead before returning home to host Gustavus Adolphus on Saturday at 5 pm.