ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - Webster University concluded play here Saturday in the Augustana College Invitational by dropping back-to-back four set matches to Alma (Mich.) College (25-23, 15-25, 23-25, 20-25) and Augustana (16-25, 16-25, 25-13, 21-25) at the Carver Center on the Augustana College campus.

With the two setbacks, Webster falls to 3-6 on the season and has now lost five of its last six matches with the only win being a three-set sweep at home last Tuesday against Principia College in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.

For the day, Webster's offense hit a combined .155 in its two matches as they recorded 80 kills and had 173 digs. 

Leading the way offensively on the day was senior outside hitter Torie Grassi (St. Louis, Mo./Rosati-Kain) as she combined for 22 kills and hit .246 in the two matches. In addition to Grassi, sophomore outside hitter Samantha Kruse (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo) had 24 kills, 25 digs and hit .385, including posting a double-double of 15 kills and 13 digs against Alma. The double-double was her fourth of the season.

In addition to Grassi and Kruse, other top performers for the Gorloks included sophomore libero Kristen Farrah (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell), who totaled 60 digs, while senior setter Kelsey Hamann (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo) had 29 assists and 18 digs and junior setter Jenna Rodriguez (Smithton, Ill./Freeburg), who had back-to-back double-doubles as she had 12 assists and 18 digs against Alma and 18 assists and 11 digs against Augustana.

Against Alma, Webster was outhit, .208 to .132, but the Gorloks held a 106-102 edge in digs. Perhaps the biggest difference in the match came on serving as Alma (9-1 on the season) recorded six aces, while WU had three aces. Both teams also combined for 13.5 blocks as Alma had eight and the Gorloks had 5.5 blocks.

Kruse paced the Gorloks offensively against Alma as she had 15 kills, hit .406 and added 13 digs. Along with Kruse, Grassi added 11 kills, hit .243 in the loss. Farrah paced WU's defense with 37 digs, while Hamann (22 assists, 16 digs) and Rodriguez (12 assists, 18 dig) combined for 34 assists and 34 digs. 

Katie Bush led Alma with a match-high 15 kills and hit .517, while Sara Majerle added 13 kills and 22 digs and Haley Ullrich had 11 kills in the win. 

Meanwhile against Augustana, WU was outhit, .211 to .178 and outdug, 71-67, but was able to force a fourth set after hitting .357 en route to posting a 25-13 win in the third set. 

Grassi finished with 11 kills and hit .250 against Augustana, while Kruse added nine kills, 12 digs, hit .350 and two of WU's three aces. Additionally, Farrah led WU's defense with 23 digs, while Rodriguez posted her double-double of 18 assists and 11 digs. 

Augie opened the match by hitting .425 in the first set and cruised to a 25-16 win and then hit .270 in the second set en route to posting a 25-16 win and taking a 2-0 lead in the match.

In third set, Webster jumped out to a 4-0 lead and led 9-3 when Augie used a 3-1 run to pull within 10-6. The Gorloks, though, would respond with a 10-3 run to push its leas to 20-9. The run was aided by three kills from Kruse. Augie would respond with a mini 4-2 run to pull within 22-13, before the Gorloks sealed the 25-13 win by scoring the final three points and capped the win with a kill from Grsssi.

Augie, though, would seal the match win in the fourth set as they posted a 25-21 win. In the fourth set, Webster was outhit, .128 to .049. 

Grace Bialock led the way offensively for Augustana as she had 16 kills and hit .448. In addition to Bialock, Emily Uglem added seven kills and hit .294 in the win. 

The Gorloks will return to action this coming Tuesday, Sept. 18 as they host Eureka College in a 6 p.m. SLIAC match at Grant Gymnasium.