ADRIAN, Mich. – Briah Strezo finished Friday evening with 30 kills and 30 digs, but the Indiana University Northwest volleyball team fell short in the first day of the Siena Heights Invitational.
 
The RedHawks lost the opener to Rochester in four (22-25, 26-24, 22-25, 18-25) and dropped a five-set (11-25, 10-25, 25-20, 27-25, 11-15) heartbreaker to Georgetown (Ky.) to move to 1-7. IUN is back in action Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. at Siena Heights and concludes the day at 2 p.m. against Kentucky Christian.
 
Match One
In the opening bout, the RedHawks and Warriors matched point for point before RU went on a run to put space between the teams. IUN, however, answered back and got back within a point (22-21) following a Strezo kill, but it could not hold on to the momentum.
 
Tied a six apiece in the second set play, the RedHawks went on a 10-3 run to take a six-point advantage. Following an RU run that put the Warriors back in front, the RedHawks got a block from Karly Jevert and Jaelyn Donald, while Erica Packwood picked up an ace and then Donald scored the winning point on a kill.
 
After IUN tied the third stanza at 18 all on a Strezo kill the Warriors would outscore the RedHawks 7-4 to go in to the fourth up 2-1.  Down six (10-4) early, IUN fought back to a point down (14-13) when it got kills from Jevert, Julianna Picicco and two more from Strezo, but RU would not allow the RedHawks any closer to finish off the match.
 
Match Two
Down 2-0 after the first two sets, the RedHawks dug deep to win the third and fourth after coming up with a combined 22 team kills. During the third frame, IUN used a 6-0 run to take a 16-11 lead and then set ending 3-0 spurt that was capped off a Packwood ace to grab the win.
 
The RedHawks were down six (11-5) in the fourth, but an 8-1 swing turned the tide and they never trailed by more than one. IUN was facing Georgetown's match point, but Strezo put down a pair of kills and then an unforced Tiger error forced a deciding fifth set.
 
During final stanza play, the RedHawks were never able to take a lead and got the score to 12-9 but could not get closer. However, during the final set, Chloe Roberts jumped into the 1,000-dig club for her career.