DE PERE - St. Norbert College came up just short in a key early-season Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match against Edgewood College, dropping a 3-2 decision at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.

The Green Knights held a 2-1 lead before eventually succumbing to the defending NACC co-champion Eagles 25-21, 23-25, 21-25, 25-21, 15-12.

St. Norbert held a 10-7 lead in Set 1 before the Eagles went on a 13-3 run to take a 20-13 lead and take a 1-0 match edge. Edgewood kept things going to start Set 2, taking a big 17-9 lead. The Green Knights then went on a 10-2 run to tie it at 19-19. Edgewood went back ahead 21-19, 22-20 and 23-21 before St. Norbert closed things on a 4-0 run, keyed by Alyssa Mills and Mari Szews kills.

The Green Knights trailed 16-13 in Set 3 before pushing back again, going on a 6-1 run for a 19-17 lead with two Maddie Kitowski service aces leading the way. The Eagles got to within 20-19, but a 3-0 St. Norbert run behind a Mills kill and an Alli Clark service ace led to a 2-1 St. Norbert lead. The Green Knights fell behind 6-1 in Set 4 and never led, eventually getting to within 21-18 and 22-19 before Edgewood knotted things up 2-2.

The decisive fifth set was knotted 6-6 before Edgewood went on a 4-0 run, with the Eagles getting two blocks, for a 10-6 edge. St. Norbert made a last-ditch rally to get to within 10-9 on a pair of Szews kills and a Mills service ace. The Green Knights trailed 12-11 and 13-12 before an Edgewood block and kill closed out the match.

St. Norbert hit .139 with 64 kills and 37 errors in 194 attempts. Clark and Mills led the offense with 14 kills each, while Anna Kudick added 10 kills. Heidi Colburn had 47 assists. Kitowski had three service aces and Mills chipped in two.

Kara Sowinski registered 20 digs, while Mills had 14, Andrianna Volz 13 and Lauren Borchardt 11. Clark finished with four blocks.

Edgewood hit .190 with 56 kills and 23 errors in 174 swings. Cassidy Spies finished with 15 kills to lead the Eagles.