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GREENCASTLE, Ind. - After falling in four sets to a strong Alma team, the Whitman College women's volleyball team retook the court for its second of back-to-back matches but came up short to tourney host Depauw University to close their opening day at the DePauw Tigers Invitational. Set scores were 25-17, 25-16, 25-17.

The Blues ran their offense and were solid on attack, but were no match for the defense of the Tigers. Whitman committed only 19 errors, only one more than DePauw but hit just .041 for the match.

Taylor Knight again led Whitman this time with six kills. Megan Suka and Elyse Benavides both added five kills.

The Blues (0-4) never held the lead in the first set. Whitman trailed by four points in the early going but managed to remain within striking distance for awhile, but the back half of the set belonged to the Tigers. A pair of kills from Liv Hartman brought the score to 16-9, then Hartman got in on a block with Meagan Etling to make it a nine-point lead. The Blues staved off a handful of set points but a final kill from Corri Rusk sealed the set win.

Set two saw more of the same. A kill from Megan Suka had her team trailing DePauw 6-4 but seven straight Tigers points gave them control of the set. A handful of DePauw hitters had a hand in the offense as the lead swelled to 20-7 off a Hartman kill. Morgan Stearly's kill was the set-clincher.

The Blues hung around for a good portion of set three but it were the Tigers that claimed the win and match sweep. Kills from Ava McCabe and Benavides made it a 13-11 game, but ultimately DePauw proved to be too strong at the net and cruised to the win.

Whitman will look to get back on track when it closes the Tiger Invitational tomorrow with a pair of matches. The Blues play Westminster (MO) at 10:30 a.m. (7:30 a.m. PT) and Aurora at 2:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. PT)