THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - St. Norbert College hung with a pair of nationally ranked opponents at the Cal-Lu-Fornia Tournament at California Lutheran University's Gilbert Arena.

The Green Knights had four deuce sets in the two matches but dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 3 Juniata College 25-23, 25-23, 25-10 before falling 3-0 to No. 13-ranked Nazareth College 28-26, 25-15, 25-23.

Set 1 against Juniata featured 12 ties and five lead changes. The Green Knights held a 17-15 edge before Juniata took a 20-18 lead. St. Norbert tied it 20-20 and trailed 23-22 and 24-23 before the Eagles finished off the set. St. Norbert eventually built an 18-14 lead in Set 2 before Juniata rallied with a 6-0 run to take a 19-18 lead. The Green Knights again trailed 23-22 and 24-23 but couldn't hold off the Eagles. Juniata then hit .500 in Set 3 to seal the win.

St. Norbert hit .108 in the match, with 25 kills and 18 errors in 65 attempts. Barry Applewhite had eight kills, while Owen Knezevich had five. Eddie Pacula had 14 assists and Michael Whitney nine. Ryan Conway had three digs, while Whitney added two blocks.

Against Nazareth, St. Norbert had a golden opportunity to win Set 1, holding a lead of 22-19 before the Golden Flyers went on a 3-0 run. The Green Knights got a pair of points to take a 24-22 lead, but Nazareth countered with a 3-0 run to lead 25-24. St. Norbert forced ties of 25-25 and 26-26 but the Golden Flyers scored the last two points. Nazareth took a 9-1 lead in Set 2 and took a 2-0 match lead. Set 3 had 10 ties and two lead changes, but the last five ties Nazareth would score the next point. The set was tied 21-21 before Nazareth scored two points and held the Green Knights off from there.

St. Norbert hit .169, with 27 kills and 14 errors in 77 attempts. Kaden Kornaus had nine kills, while Knezevich, Applewhite and Kade Nelson all had five each. Whitney had 12 assists and Pacula totaled 11. Nelson had two service aces. Kornaus had nine digs, with Conway adding six. Applewhite and Jackson Wolterstorff had two blocks each.