GAME STATS 1 | GAME STATS 2 Dubuque, Iowa - The Thunder volleyball team (3-4) dropped a pair of matches on Friday night in the first night of the Loras Invitational. The Thunder will close out its participation in the tournament on Saturday with a matchup against St. Mary's (Minn) at 11:00 a.m. and versus the host Duhawks of Loras College at 3:00 p.m.

UW-Stout defeated the Thunder 3-0 in Wheaton's first match of the night on Friday. UW-Stout was a 26-24 winner in the first set, picked up a 25-13 win in the second set and won the third set 25-22. Sydney Vischer led the Thunder with 11 kills, three service aces and 12 digs. Junior Shelby Knowles tallied nine kills, with three service aces and 10 digs.Freshman Jessica Bosse recorded 20 digs and Kelly Thornton had 22 assists with 12 digs.

UW-Platteville defeated Wheaton 3-2 in back-and-forth affair later in the evening. The Pioneers won the first set 25-14 and Wheaton was a 25-22 victor in the second set. UW-P picked up a 25-22 win in the third set and Wheaton was a 25-21 winner in the fourth set. The Pioneers won a 15-8 decision in the decisive fifth set. Knowles recorded 13 kills with 20 digs. Vischer tallied 13 kills with 24 digs and three total blocks. Hannah Japp had six kills with four total blocks. Thornton registered 42 assists and Bosse had a team-high 34 digs. Lauren Wilhite had a team-high three service aces in the match.

Head coach Brittany Smith noted following Friday's matches, "We started sluggish today. Missing some key leaders we didn't take care of details as we should. But we found moments of great synergy and were able to carry that into our next match against Plattville. I was proud of the way our young team battled and made adjustments. We had better focus and discipline, and continue to see how we can lead and work better. Overall it was a great day for Thunder volleyball, and now these hard lessons will make us better down the road."