GEORGETOWN, Ky. -- Indiana Wesleyan University volleyball completed the first day of play at the Boneyard Brawl which is hosted by Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky.

Following a 3-1 loss in its first game of the day against No. 9 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), Indiana Wesleyan dropped a hard fought 3-2 decision to Viterbo (Wis.) in a rematch from last season’s NAIA National Tournament. Viterbo is currently receiving votes in the NAIA Top-25 Poll.

The Wildcats lost the match by scores of 25-12, 20-25, 25-23, 18-25, 15-17. IWU drops to 24-8 while the V-Hawks improve to 28-10.

“One of the things I’ve been most impressed with today is the fight these girls have put out there in every match,” said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Candace Moats. “There is a heart and a chemistry that is coming out. No one is letting anything die. It’s a great stretch for all of us, especially the younger players, to be excellent and execute constantly throughout the high pressure of playing really good teams. It’s been very successful for us the way we’ve played even though we didn’t win the games because we have won in a lot of other ways.”

Rae Brandes tallied a career-high 24 kills in the win. She had previously set a career-high of 23 kills twice earlier this season. Christiana Tavo also finished the match with a career-best performance as she had 12 kills. Her previous high of eight came against Point Park (Pa.) on August 30. Assisting on a majority of those kills was Katey Holler as she totaled 58 assists.

Rebecca Brandes amassed 24 digs while Raina Troyer added 13 more. Kristin Predajna had two solo blocks and Remy Troyer contributed four block assists.

The schedule gets no easier for Indiana Wesleyan tomorrow as the team completes the final day of the Boneyard Brawl. IWU starts with No. 1-ranked Texas at Brownsville at 11:30 a.m. and then plays No. 10 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) at 3 p.m.