RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The UW-Superior volleyball team dropped a pair of matches to St. Benedict and Hamline Friday in the Falcon Invitational at Don Page Arena.
 
UWS (5-7) fell to the Bennies, 3-0 (25-12, 25-9, 25-14), and the Pipers, 3-2 (28-26, 12-25, 23-25, 25-23, 13-15). 
 
Cami Sletta (Willmar, Minn./Willmar Senior) had a team-high 13 kills against Hamline while Brylee Colligan (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) and Gina Baertsch (Farmington, Minn./Farmington Area) each chipped in 12. Baertsch completed a triple-double with 25 assists and 14 kills. Colligan tallied 10 digs for a double-double and Megan Holz (Savage, Minn./Burnsville) collected 17 assists and 11 digs for one of her own.
 
The first set had 15 tie scores before the Yellowjackets prevailed in extra points. Colligan staved off a set point with a kill at 25-24 and Sletta later ended the set with a kill, following an attack error for HU.
 
Hamline cruised to a 13-point victory in the second set to even the match and went up, 2-1, with a two-point win in the third. 
 
The 'Jackets returned the favor in the fourth set to send the match to a deciding fifth set. Hamline took the first five points in that fifth, before UWS eventually cut the deficit to 11-8 with a 4-0 run. Facing four match points, Superior received a kill from Colligan to make it 14-11 and forced the Pipers into an attack error. But HU's Rachel Rettman ended things with a kill from Megan Rubbelke for the win.
 
Hamline landed four players in double-digit kills, led by 23 from Madison Hurrle.
 
Against the Bennies, the 'Jackets were limited to a .196 team hitting percentage, with 23 kills and 20 errors. Sletta paced UWS with seven kills and three digs. Freshman Yana Carrera (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West Senior) picked up a team-leading eight digs. 
 
Superior plays St. Catherine and UW-River Falls Saturday at noon and 2 p.m., respectively.