OSHKOSH, Wis. – The Carthage College Lady Reds split their first two matches of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Women's Volleyball Invitational on Friday at the Kolf Sports Center, defeating Bates College with a sweep before falling to UW-Oshkosh in four sets.
 
The split moves the Lady Reds to 15-8 on the season, while Bates finished day one at 10-10 and Oshkosh at 15-14.
 
Carthage 3, Bates 0
Carthage dominated their opening match of the weekend with a .321 team attack percentage to Bates' .176.  The Lady Reds committed just nine attack errors in the win and rattled off 43 kills to the Bobcats 29 kills.
 
Ellie LeCount passed the ball around efficiently as she recorded 30 assists in the win.  For LeCount, it marks the fifth time this season she has recorded 30 or more assists in a three-set win.
 
Megan Behrendt and Megan Fallert led Carthage with nine kills each on the offensive side, while Katie Laio had three blocks and Mallory Parsons picked up 13 digs to help defensively.
 
UW-Oshkosh 3, Carthage 1
In the second match of the day the Lady Reds picked up a win in the first set before dropping the next three to suffer the defeat.
 
Katie Laio had another big game at the net with a match-high five blocks for the Lady Reds.  Laio has stepped up over the past two weeks, tallying 23 blocks over the past five matches.
 
Also leading the Lady Reds despite the loss were Shannon Kebisek in kills and Ellie LeCount in assists with match-highs of 15 and 28 respectively, and Luci Krenzke with 13 digs.
 
The Lady Reds will return to action on Saturday as they open the second day in Oshkosh with UW-Stevens Point at 11:30 a.m. followed by a match with the ninth ranked University of Northwestern (Minnesota) at 1:30 p.m.