MILWAUKEE – The MSOE women's volleyball shut out Macalester and battled Maranatha to the very end in splitting a pair of matches at a triangular it hosted Saturday at the Kern Center.

The Raiders (1-7) opened their day with their first win of the season, a convincing 25-18, 25-13, 25-22 win over the Scots. They then fought tooth and nail against the Sabercats before falling in five sets 25-16, 21-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-10.

Senior Sarabeth Haworth and sophomores Hannah Pekarek had big days on the attack. Haworth finished the match with Macalester with 16 kills and 14 digs, then notched 15 kills and 13 digs in the nightcap. Pekarek had 10 kills and 16 digs, followed by a 17-kill performance vs. MBU.

Defense was the key in the opener, as MSOE limited the Scots to just .009 attacking for the match, including a stifling -.114 in the opening set. The Raiders also received 12 digs from junior Aleah Quast in the match, as well as five total blocks (two solo) from sophomore Julia Zeamer.

After a strong defensive performance, the offense stepped up in the second set with a robust .357 attack percentage to dispatch its guests 25-13. The Red & White then held on for a tighter third-set victory to claim the match.

MSOE returned to the court in the final match of the day and tallied eight service aces and hit .168 against the Sabercats, who were quite formidable with a .269 attack percentage of their own and 9.0 team blocks.

In addition to Haworth and Pekarek, the Red & White got nine kills on .571 attacking from Zeamer, eight kills from freshman Kylie Kamm and seven kills against just one error from senior Madeline Molnor.

Along the back line, freshman setter Allie Laurent, who notched 40 assists in her first collegiate start, had a matched-best 24 digs, while Quast totaled 22.

Alison Renz led Maranatha with 22 kills on .449 attacking and was one of four players in double-digits digs with 15. Alexis Johnson added 15 kills.

The Raiders will continue their run of promising showings on Wednesday, when they hit the road for a league match at Marian.