On Tuesday evening, the Alma College Volleyball team took on host Kalamazoo College in a MIAA match and came away on the wrong end of a 3-1 final (12-25, 18-25, 25-23, 22-25). With the loss, Alma is now 9-12 overall and 4-4 in the MIAA, while the Hornets improved to 2-6 in the MIAA and 7-11 in 2014.

"Again tonight, in the first two sets we came out flat," said Alma Head Coach Sarah Dehring. "We made way too many errors and did not have any of our attackers in the positive. It's very difficult to win that way. I thought we played really well in set three, but realistically we had dug ourselves too deep a hole at that point. Give Kalamazoo credit, they played a really good match.

"On our side, I thought Madison (Smith) and Sasha (Laykova) played well but we did not have enough others step up as well. We were just too inconsistent and lacked passion at times. Sets three and four were better in that sense, but we must find a way to make it the norm and not the exception."

In the first set, Alma led 5-4 before Kzoo reeled off eight of the next 10 points for a 12-7 advantage. It was also 14-9 Hornets before they went on a 11-3 run to take a convincing 25-12 win.

The Hornets were in control for most of the second set, especially after it was a 8-6 lead for the home team. They extended the advantage to 16-8 before ultimately finishing with a 25-18 victory and a 2-0 set lead.

Alma came back to win the third set although it wasn't easy. The Hornets held leads of 6-5 and 16-15 before the Scots dug deep and grinded out the 25-23 win, cutting the deficit to 2-1.

The fourth set looked to be going in Alma's favor as well, but ultimately the Hornets would prevail. The Scots had leads of 16-9 and 20-16, but Kzoo played too well on this evening. The home team finished on a 9-2 run to notch the 25-22 win and finished out the 3-1 match victory.

Statistically, So. MH/OH Madison Smith (Westphalia/Pewamo-Westphalia) had a team-high 14 kills, while So. OH/DS Sasha Laykova (Ternopil, Ukraine/Forest Hills Northern) finished with nine kills, five digs, three service aces and one blocked shot.

In addition, So. S Mary Dulzo (Novi/Mercy) had 33 assists, Sr. OH Kayla Muxlow (Brown City/Brown City) had eight kills and four digs, while So. DS/L Molly Lark (Middleville/Thornapple-Kellogg) finished with 11 digs. Also, Jr. OH/DS Hannah Guilford (Hartland/Hartland) contributed 11 digs in the loss.

Alma continues their season on Friday evening when they play at Saint Mary's College. Start time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. On Saturday, the Scots will host Adrian and Heidelberg in a tri-match at Art Smith Arena. First match of the day begins at 11:00 a.m.