OMAHA, Neb. – The Ottawa University women's volleyball team battled hard but fell in four sets to No. 4-ranked Concordia University (Neb.) on Friday morning. The Braves dropped the match 18-25, 24-26, 25-17, 13-25, moving to 0-3 on the season while Concordia improved to 5-0.

After a slow start in the opening set, Ottawa responded in set two with strong attacking from Hollie Peters and Bailee Nickel, forcing extra points before narrowly falling 26-24. The Braves carried that momentum into the third set, hitting .314 as a team and pulling away late for a 25-17 win. However, the Bulldogs regrouped in the fourth, limiting OU to a -.051 hitting percentage while closing out the match 25-13.

Peters paced the Braves with 12 kills, hitting .235, while Nickel added 11 kills. Kira Cherry tallied nine kills and three block assists, and Campbell Stark contributed seven kills with two solo blocks. Defensively, Carson Schuman led all players with 18 digs, and setter Makela Martinez recorded  24 assists.

As a team, Ottawa finished with 45 kills, 42 assists, 55 digs, and 3.0 total blocks.

Concordia's balanced offense featured four players with at least eight kills, led by Addie Kirkegaard (12 kills, .571) and Laynee Baker (10 kills, .364). The Bulldogs hit .324 on the night and posted 10 total team blocks.

Ottawa (0-3) returns to the court Friday night in its second match of the CSM Labor Day Classic in Omaha against Morningside University. The match is slated to begin at 6:00 p.m.