MADISON, Wis. - Edgewood College's road to their fourth NACC title in five years took a slight detour on Friday night at the Edgedome. Playing in front of a great Senior Night crowd, Aurora University recovered from losing the first set to take a 17-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-23 victory over the Eagles. The loss snapped Edgewood College's five match winning streak.

Edgewood College (13-11, 5-2 NACC) opened strong, hitting an outstanding .435 in the first set. Renee Meister was unstoppable in that set, scoring five kills in five attempts. Elizabeth Evans added three kills as the Eagles pulled away from a 7-7 tie with an 8-2 run in the middle of the set.

The Eagles still seemed to be in control through the first part of the second set. Edgewood College turned a 7-4 deficit into a 12-9 lead with two kills from Emily Chaussee and an ace from Savannah Koester. However the set, and maybe the match turned after the Eagles held a 15-13 lead. Following a sideout for Aurora University (19-8, 7-1 NACC), the Spartans' Peyton McKenzie gained control of the serve and reeled off six straight points, including two service aces, to give her team a 20-15 lead. The Eagles got it back to within 23-20, but couldn't get any closer.

The third set found more frustration for the Eagles. After leading briefly at 10-8, McKenzie scored three kills and an assisted block in a span of six points to put the Spartans back out in front 14-11. Edgewood College didn't fall much further behind, but couldn't catch Aurora either. Chaussee had four kills in the set, while Evans had three blocks.

Aurora looked ready to put away the match, jumping out to a 6-1 to open the fourth set, but Edgewood College slowly started to reel them in. Savannah Koester put down a kill that brought the Eagles within 12-11, but Aurora scored the next four points for a 16-11 lead. Trailing 20-12, Meister scored a kill to give the serve back to Eagles and Emily Chaussee scored four straight service points, one on a block by Koester and Meister, to get within three at 20-17. Edgewood College closed the gap again, taking advantage of a Spartan attack error and a ball handling error to trim the margin to 23-22. However, an Eagle service error out of the timeout put Edgewood College's back against the wall. Mackenzie Hannan scored huge kill to give the Eagles another point, Aurora setter Emily Lines dumped the match-winning kill over the net on the next point.

Senior Elizabeth Evans led the Eagles on Senior Night with 11 kills and a team-high 14 digs. Fellow senior Jenna Dammen had five blocks, including one solo effort. Chaussee and Meister each had nine kills on the night. Alex Zapuchlak and Haley Schwenn had 20 and 16 assists, respectively. After a blistering .435 in the first set, the Eagles attack percentage dropped in each subsequent set, leaving Edgewood College at just .138 for the match.

Aurora University was led by McKenzie who had 14 kills and kept the Eagles off-balance with five service aces. Teammate Katie Vondra scored 10 kills and had 10 digs for a double-double. Lines had 40 assists running the Spartans' offense.

Edgewood College will need to shake off just their second loss in the Edgedome this season in a hurry. Benedictine University and 13th-ranked UW-Stevens Point invade Madison tomorrow for a triangular. The first match, Edgewood College vs. Benedictine University begins at 12:00 p.m.