ST. PAUL, Minn. -- North Central volleyball traveled to Snelling Avenue Tuesday night for a match-up with Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe Macalester College. Despite winning the third set, NCU dropped the match to the Scots by a score of 1-3 (15-25, 22-25, 28-26, 18-25).

The Rams held a 9-4 lead in set one before Macalester battled back to tie the score at 10. Both teams played evenly for the next few rallies, but after a 13-13 tie, the Scots went on a 12-2 run to close out the win.

Set two started in contrast to set one, with Macalester jumping out to an early lead. Despite being down 5-13, North Central fought to regain control of the game tempo. Although the Rams put up a 7-2 run midway through the set, and fought off three set points by the Scots, NCU could not overcome the early deficit.

Both teams traded point for point in the third set, with North Central defending three match-point serves by Macalester before taking the set in extra points. But despite the energizing momentum, and a back-and-forth start to the fourth set, NCU eventually ran out of steam and Macalester rolled to a more dominant final frame.

The Rams were led on offense by senior Karlee Huber (Rapid City, S.D./Dakota Wesleyan) who tallied a season-high 11 kills on the night. Anna Larson (Lakeville, Minn./Robert Morris) contributed her first double-double of 2016 with 10 kills and 13 digs. Elissa Pheneger (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) notched 24 assists and 2 service aces, while sophomore transfer Maddie Stocker (Woodbury, Minn./Grace University) led the Rams defense with 24 digs.

North Central is back in action this weekend when they host four other teams in the NCU Invitational. Their first home match of 2016 will be on Friday against Faith Baptist Bible College at 4 p.m., followed by an 8 p.m. match against Trinity Bible College. Saturday's games are at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. against Providence University (Manitoba) and Grinnell College.