GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin University women's volleyball team opened its annual Midwest Invitational with a 3-0 defeat to 10th-ranked Millikin University by the scores of 25-16, 25-19 and 25-20.

Millikin (20-3) was tough to slow down on the attack, hitting .215 for the match compared to .163 for the Knights. The Big Blue also did a good job of limiting errors and finished with 15 attack errors (seven coming on Calvin blocks) and two serving errors for the match.

The Big Blue started strong as an 11-3 run pushed them to a 15-7 lead on the way to a 25-16 opening-set win.

Calvin (10-7) looked to even things up in the second set and led 17-15 late, but Millikin answered with a 10-2 run to close the set and take a commanding 2-0 overall lead. 

The teams traded the lead back and forth to start the third set, but the Big Blue ran off five straigt points to take a 13-8 lead and never trailed the rest of the way en route to winning the set and the match.

Avery Ekkens (Portage, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian) led the Calvin attack with nine kills, followed by seven kills from Emma Ekblaw (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton) and six apiece from Aerin Baker (Saugatuck, Mich./Saugatuck) and Jasmine Namminga (Pella, Iowa/Pella Community). Namminga also finished with a team-best four blocks.

Mackenzie Gerig (Rochester, N.Y./Hilton) was active in the back row throughout the match and finished with a match-high 21 digs. Delaney Kemp (Frisco, Texas/Frisco Centennial) led the Knights with 19 assists. 

NEXT UP: Calvin women's volleyball will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, October 12) when it hosts Carroll University (11:00 AM) and Mount St. Joseph University (1:30 PM) in Van Noord Arena on day two of the Midwest Invitational.