MATCH 1 BOX | MATCH 2 BOX

PEORIA, Ill. -- The UMass Lowell Volleyball team dropped a pair of matches in opening day of the Bradley Invitational at Renaissance Coliseum on Friday. The River Hawks fell in the opening match to Weber State, 3-0 (20-25, 12-25, 20-25) and fell to Manhattan, 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 13-25, 16-25) in the final match of the day.

The River Hawks fell to 0-6 overall of the season, while Manhattan improved to 5-1 and Weber State upped its record to 1-3 overall.

"Both matches helped our team take a big step in the right direction today," said Head Coach Resa Provanzano. "Everyone got a good opportunity to get in and contribute, and we were put in pressure situations, which will only help us going forward. Even though we didn't come out with a win, we are getting better with every point and look forward to working hard tomorrow against host Bradley."

In the Weber State match, freshman outside hitter Haley Shimon (Des Moines, Iowa) tied a career-high with 11 kills in the losing effort. Freshman middle blocker Lade Adeniyi (Springfield, Ill.) tallied six kills and a .333 hitting percentage and outside hitter Rachel Arnason (Kelowna, B.C.) finished the match with five kills. Junior Alexa Toth (Portland, Ore.) recorded 20 assists running the River Hawks' offense. Freshman libero Lindsey Visvardis (Homer Glen, Ill.) led the way on defense with 17 digs.

In the final match of the day vs. the Jaspers, Shimon notched a career-high 12 kills, while Arnason had 10 kills in the losing effort. Junior middle blocker Lauren Bennett (Wilmington, Mass.) also had a solid match with five kills, a .417 hitting percentage and seven total blocks. Toth also notched a career-high with 28 assists on the night. Visvardis tallied a career-high 26 digs to lead the River Hawk defense. UMass Lowell recorded 13 kills in the first and second sets and hit for a .250 clip in the fourth set after hitting .205 in the second frame.

The River Hawks return to action the final day of the tournament against host Bradley. Match time is 12 p.m. ET and the match will be televised live on ESPN3.