AURORA, Ill. - St. Norbert College dropped a close first set to top-seeding Aurora University and couldn't recover in a 3-0 loss in the semifinal round of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament at Thornton Gymnasium.

The Green Knights (19-14), the tournament's No. 4 seeding, fell to the NACC regular-season champion Spartans (19-8) by scores of 25-22, 25-16, 25-18.

St. Norbert held a 19-17 lead late in the first set before Aurora responded with six consecutive points to take control at 23-19. The Green Knights led 16-15 in the third set, but the Spartans rallied six of the next seven points to take a 21-17 lead.

The Green Knights hit .056 for the match, with 31 kills and 24 errors in 124 attempts. Grace Baumann led St. Norbert with 13 kills, while Brooke Clement added seven. Devon Nardoni finished with 18 assists.

Liz Maastricht finished with 13 digs in the back row, while Baumann chipped in 11.

Aurora hit .250 for the match, with 40 kills and 13 errors in 108 attempts. Kate Poellmann, Lulu Torres and Sydnei Avery all had 10 kills apiece for the Spartans.