OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Saint Anselm College volleyball team dropped both its matches on Saturday at the Kentucky Wesleyan Invitational.

The Hawks fell to Harding to open the day in a close match, falling by set scores of 25-21, 25-20, 25-21. Saint Anselm dropped its final match of the invitational to No. 9 nationally, Nebraska-Kearney, in straight sets, 25-8, 25-23, 25-23. The last time Saint Anselm battled a nationally-ranked opponent came against Minnesota-Duluth to open the 2017 season, who was No. 7 at the time.

After returning from the Bluegrass State, Saint Anselm returns to action on Friday, Sept. 9 in the IVHOF Division II East Region Class from Springfield, Mass. The Hawks will battle Daemen (N.Y.) and Bentley on Friday before squaring off with Molloy and American International on Saturday, Sept. 10.

Senior Lauren Casey (Jefferson City, Mo.) led the Hawks offense with 24 kills between the matches. Sophomore Gabby Belcher (Buckeye, Ariz.) and juniors Audrey Wetjen (Henderson, Nev.) and Kaitlin Brown (Glendale, Ariz.) all added double-digit kills for Saint Anselm.

Senior Caroline Belmontez (San Diego, Calif.) registered a team-high 28 digs on the day while classmate Michelle Henwood (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) followed with 21. Henwood added 52 assists for the Hawks in transition.

HARDING 3, SAINT ANSELM 0

The opening set was a back-and-forth battle as neither squad managed to gain a clear advantage. The Hawks held a 10-8 lead following a Bison attack error but they responded with eight of the next 11 points to open a 16-13 edge, which was the largest lead at the time. Saint Anselm rallied and registered six of the next seven to regain the two-point lead. Harding would use three consecutive points to force a Hawks timeout and would later get a kill from Jacey Lambert, pushing the score to 23-21. The Bison got a pair of kills following the second Saint Anselm timeout to close out the opening frame, 25-21.

The second set saw more swapping of points with Harding reaching the middle portion of the set, leading 14-11. A pair of three-point runs pushed the score to 17-14 but the Hawks closed the gap, scoring on four of the next six to trail, 19-18, on kill by Casey. However, the Bison would grab six of the final eight points in the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Hawks trailed early in the third set at 10-8 but a four-point swing pushed them to a 12-10 lead. Wetjen registered a kill and a block to go with two attack errors by the Bison for the four points. Saint Anselm continued to push forward as they had a string of five points later in the set to extend the lead to 18-14 on an assisted block by Brown and Casey. However, Harding would rally and score on seven of the next eight points to take a 21-19 lead in the set. After the teams traded points, Harding would score the final three points of the set to take set three by a 25-21 score and the match three sets to zero.

NO. 9 NEBRASKA-KEARNEY 3, SAINT ANSELM 0

The Antelopes jumped out to a 5-0 lead but some swapping of points pushed the score to 8-3. Following a kill by freshman Ava Kidd (Walton, Ky.), Nebraska-Kearney posted seven consecutive points to take a commanding 15-3 lead and later used a five-point run to take a 19-5 edge. The squads traded points in the closing stages with the Antelopes taking set one, 25-8.

A back-and-forth battle early in set two saw Nebraska-Kearney take a 13-10 lead. Saint Anselm used a four-point run to take a 14-13 lead then followed that up with three consecutive points to lead 17-14 which forced a timeout from the Antelopes. The squads traded points to push the Hawks to a 22-18 lead but seven of the final eight points went Nebraska-Kearney's way as they would steal set two by a 25-23 score.

Another contested start to the third set saw Nebraska-Kearney lead 11-10 following a kill for the Hawks by Casey. The Antelopes used a three-point run to extend their lead to 14-10, forcing Saint Anselm to use a timeout. The short break would prove to useful as the Hawks scored eight of the next nine points to take an 18-15 lead on three consecutive kills by Belcher. After a swap of one point each way, the Antelopes tied the set at 19 on three straight Hawks errors. The teams traded scores again meeting at 21, but four of the final six points went to Nebraska-Kearney as they would close out set three by a 25-23 score and the match in straight sets.