ADRIAN, Mich. - The Adrian women's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on Saturday afternoon at the Merillat Sport and Fitness Center. The first result was a 3-2 decision to conference-foe, Albion, followed by a hard-fought 3-0 defeat at the hands of North Park.
 
Game 1 | Adrian 2, Albion 3 (25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 19-15, 6-15)

In the Bulldogs first home match in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play, the hosts muscled ahead to a two sets to none lead, only to see it ultimately vanish over the subsequent three frames.

Adrian led by as many as five points in the game's first set, courtesy of an 8-4 run early on. An Ayden Cribbs kill punctuated the initial momentum for the home side, as they proceeded fight off an Albion rally to claim the set 25-23.

The visitors took the lead to open up the second set, racing ahead 3-0 before the Bulldogs charged back. Albion would keep the 'Dogs at bay. However, an eventual 6-0 run turned in by the home side, highlighted by a Mallory Dorow kill, pushed Adrian ahead 17-13.

The Britons responded in kind with a 7-2 stretch of their own to restore their advantage, but the black and gold served up the last laugh en route to another 25-23 set score.

The third set was not as kind to Adrian, despite a 16-12 cushion at one point. Though the scoreboard showed 25-23, once again at the end of the set, this mark was in favor of Albion, keeping them alive in the match.

The opposition would follow that up with a 25-19 score in the fourth set, forcing a deciding fifth. And in that deciding frame, the Britons stormed out to a 9-1 advantage and never looked back.

After striking for a career-high 18 kills on Friday night, Destiny Johnson tied a game-high with 15 more in Saturday's first match. Cribbs would finish with 10 successful attacks.

Hailey Farrell chipped in 32 assists for the Bulldogs, while Mya Minjares paced the home side with 32 digs.
 
Game 2 | Adrian 0, North Park 3 (18-25, 18-25, 15-25)

In the day's final match, the Bulldogs handed the Vikings everything they could handle, but the team from Chicago always seemed to be a step ahead.

North Park utilized a 0.245 attack-percentage and eight services aces to pull away from Adrian in straight sets.

Both of the first two set began largely similar with both sides trading short jabs and not letting the other get to far out of reach. However, the Vikings played to their advantages in the service game, always capable of orchestrating uncontrollable runs beginning with an ace.

That is exactly what happened in the first set with the score knotted at 17-17. An ace from Kharlie Simeona-French sparked an 8-1 run for North Park, leading to a 25-18 scoreline.

Then, in the second frame, with the score at 16-15 in favor of the Vikings, a serve off the hand of Teiya Alagar ignited a 9-3 stretch en route to a two-set lead for the visitors.

Offensively for the Bulldogs, Dorow totaled a game-high 10 kills, and Farrell contributed 14 dimes.

Minjares led the way on Adrian's backline with 15 digs, while Maddy Ritchie added four blocks at the net.

The locals (4-10, 1-1 MIAA) take the floor next at conference-opponent, Trine on September 29.