SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- No. 19-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University fell to 0-2 in Pool F at the 2014 NAIA Volleyball National Championship at the Tyson Event Center in Sioux City, Iowa.

Indiana Wesleyan faced its second consecutive top-10 opponent on Wednesday in No. 7-ranked Northwestern. Just like the night before against No. 6-ranked Missouri Baptist, Indiana Wesleyan won the opening set before falling in the next three to lose 3-1.

The Wildcats won the first set 25-22 and had a chance to go up 2-0 following a huge early hole in the second set. But errors cost the Wildcats that chance as the Red Raiders tied the match and then took the victory.

In the opening set, Indiana Wesleyan claimed their first lead with a four point spurt to take an 8-5 lead. IWU did not surrender the lead the rest of the set. Indiana Wesleyan led 21-17 but Northwestern scored three of the next four points to close within 22-20. Emily Workman (FR/Tinley Park, Ill.) finished the next point with a kill to help IWU win the opening set 25-22.

“I don’t know what the inspiration is when we first come out,” said IWU head coach Candace Moats. “I don’t know if we surprised Northwestern at all because they were definitely watching last night. But it shows me that we are here to compete. We went after it and adjusted to things.”

Northwestern raced out to a 9-1 advantage to begin the second set. Indiana Wesleyan methodically pecked away at the deficit. IWU first used a 6-2 run to close within four at 11-7 and shortly thereafter used a 7-1 run to tie the match at 14-14. The match was tied 19-19 when Alijah Mulitauopele (SR/Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Remy Bucknor (SO/Euless, Texas) each had kills to give Indiana Wesleyan a 21-19 lead. But Northwestern took advantage of three Indiana Wesleyan attack errors plus a serving error to score six of the final seven points for the 25-22 win to even the match 1-1.

“Volleyball is a momentum game,” said Moats. “It can go in one horrible direction against you and then you get a few things that you execute and you build points and you get inspired. I don’t know how we got in a hole so bad after a win. But to come back showed that we are here to continue to fight and give it all we have.”

The Wildcats fell behind quickly in the third set as the Red Raiders scored the first three points but the Wildcats responded with six straight points for a 6-3 lead. The Red Raiders followed with eight of the next 10 points to take the 11-8 lead and they did not surrender the advantage. The Red Raiders built their lead to as many as nine points at 21-12 before a late Wildcat surge closed the deficit to 23-18 to force a NU timeout. But the Red Raiders scored two of the next three points to win the third set 25-19.

Indiana Wesleyan led 7-6 early in the fourth set before Northwestern scored five straight points to go ahead 11-7. IWU would only get as close as two points the rest of the set when they closed the gap to 13-11. IWU trailed 18-15 when Northwestern finished the set with seven of the final 10 points.

 “Anytime you have to fight back really hard and have a chance to win it but then mess up a few points at the end and lose it, it takes a lot from you,” said Moats. “It is such a fight out here to 25. Every match is a fight and there is no break. So to lose that one was definitely a heartbreaker. To be up 2-0 would have been a big moment. So that was very disappointing because we know how big of a momentum swing that would have been.”

Remy Bucknor led Indiana Wesleyan with 12 kills while Bianca Cifaldi (SO/Itasca, Ill.) added nine. Kylie Portera (SO/Lake in the Hills, Ill.) and Morgan Miller (FR/Goshen, Ind.) each contributed eight kills. Emily Workman finished the night with 25 assists and Katey Holler (JR/Marion, Ohio) added 17 assists and seven digs.

Workman and Bucknor each earned six block assists as the Wildcats had 10 total team blocks. Ashlen Buck (SO/Brazil, Ind.) contributed 24 digs and Banner Rodgers (FR/Carrollton, Texas) totaled 11.

Northwestern has won both pool play matches so far in Sioux City while Indiana Wesleyan has lost to a pair of top-10 programs. For Indiana Wesleyan to have any chance to advance out of pool play, No. 18 Jamestown (N.D.) will need to upset Missouri Baptist in a match later tonight. Indiana Wesleyan plays its final Pool F match at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday.