The No. 7 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater volleyball team saw its 15-match winning streak come to an end Friday with a 30-28, 25-20, 24-26, 25-20 setback against St. Mary's (Ind.) on the first day of the Emory Invitational in Atlanta, Ga.
 
The Warhawks (21-4 overall) struggled to slow the Belles' offensive attack, which committed only 13 attack errors during the match compared to 29 for UW-W.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Erin McNeil (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) led UW-Whitewater with 16 kills and three digs. Senior middle hitter Ashton Doll (Lancaster, Wis./Lancaster) tallied 10 kills, three blocks and two digs, and freshman outside hitter Chloe Buescher (Janesville, Wis./Milton) posted nine kills, 11 digs and one service ace.
 
Senior outside hitter Rachel Butterfield (Milton, Wis./Milton) collected eight kills, three digs and two blocks. Sophomore setter Paige Manssen (Bull Valley, Ill./McHenry West) finished with 24 assists, four digs and one service ace, and freshman setter Maggie Streckert (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) totaled 19 assists, two digs and four kills.
 
Freshman libero Morgan Jensen (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) led the defense with 24 digs to go along with three kills and one service ace. Sophomore outside hitter Emma Aske (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) recorded 12 digs to go along with her five kills and two assists, and freshman setter KellyAnn Sotiros (New Berlin, Wis./West Allis Hale) contributed nine digs to go along with her nine assists.
 
UW-Whitewater trailed for much of the first set as St. Mary's (10-13) jumped out to a 13-6 advantage. The Warhawks slowly chipped away to tie it at 19-19 on an ace by sophomore defensive specialist Hailey Mackenthun (Webster, Minn./Northfield), and fought off three set points to tie it at 24-24.
 
Three points later, UW-Whitewater had a set point of its own at 26-25 after back-to-back kills by freshman outside hitter Johni Bunkers (Wildwood, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy), but the Belles scored two straight before the two teams traded points to get to 28-28. St. Mary's tallied the final two points to take a 1-0 match lead.
 
The Warhawks fell behind quickly again in the second set and trailed 16-9. They closed the deficit to 23-19, but the Belles recorded two of the next three points for a 2-0 match lead.
 
St. Mary's led 22-17 in the third before UW-Whitewater ran off five straight points to tie the set. The Belles had match point at 24-23, but the Warhawks ended the frame on a 3-0 run, including kills from Doll, Buescher and Jensen, to extend the match.
 
UW-Whitewater led 12-9 early in the fourth, but St. Mary's took control with a 7-0 run from that point and never trailed again despite the Warhawks drawing to within 21-19.
 
UW-Whitewater continues action in Atlanta Saturday at 10 a.m. Central Time against No. 24 Susquehanna (Pa.) and at 3 p.m. Central Time against No. 3 Emory.