TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Playing its first road match of the 2018 here Wednesday evening, Webster University struggled offensively as were held to an .096 attack percentage in suffering a three-set setback (25-17, 25-18, 25-18) here to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology at Hulbert Arena.

With the setback, the Gorloks fell to 2-1 on the season, while RHIT improved to 3-2 on the season.

Last weekend. Webster opened the season by posting back-to-back wins on Friday at its season opening Webster Quad as they picked up a four-set win over Lincoln (Ill.) College and then defeated Benedictine (Ill.) University in five sets. 

In Wednesday's match, sophomore outside hitter Samantha Kruse (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo) continued her strong play to open the season as the reigning St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week tallied a match-high 14 kills and added 14 digs for her third double-double of the season. In three matches this season, Kruse has recorded 45 kills and 46 digs and is hitting .286 on the year. Kruse hit .333 in Wednesday's match.

In addition to Kruse, freshman outside hitter Kylie Burke (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) added six kills, four blocks and hit .375, while sophomore defensive specialist Kristen Farrah (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell) had 27 of WU's 65 digs in the loss. Farrah was named this week's SLIAC Defensive Player of the Week. 

RHIT jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the opening set and led 16-6 when the Gorloks used an 9-5 run capped by back-to-back errors by RHIT's Katie Orbeta to pull within 21-15. The team's would then trade points until Maria Bruner sealed the Fightin' Engineers 25-17 win. In the opening set, WU was outhit, .239 to .125. 

Unlike the first set, Webster jumped out to an 11-7 lead early in the second set, before RHIT scored five straight points to take a 12-11 lead. A kill by Kruse would retie the set at 12, before the home team would use a 7-2 run to push out to a 19-14 advantage. Following a kill by freshman right side hitter Samantha Hoff (Sterling Heights, Mich./Sterling Heights) dropped RHIT's lead to 19-15, the Fighting' Engineers would outscore the Gorloks, 6-3, to seal its 25-18 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match. Kruse had four kills and five digs in the set, but the Gorloks hit just .078 as a team. RHIT hit .289 in the set. 

The third set was a back-and-forth affair as it featured 13 ties and four lead changes. RHIT would jump in front 5-2 and led 10-9 when WU responded with a 6-3 run to take a 15-13 lead. After the team's traded kills to make the score 16-14, RHIT would close out the set by scoring nine of the final 13 points to earn the 25-18 win and sweep the match. Kruse had seven of her 14 kills, while Farrah and Kruse combined for 13 digs in the third set. In the set, RHIT outhit WU, .191 to .089.

Marissa Gollnick and Bailey MacInnis each had nine kills to pace RHIT in the win. Gollnick also had 12 digs for a double-double. Katryna Dahlberg had 24 digs, while Adekite Olaipupo added 14 for the match.

Both teams had three aces and combined to record 34 attack errors. The Gorloks outblocked RHIT, 4-2.

RHIT finished the match hitting .239 and had 80 digs and 49 kills. Webster had 31 kills. 

The Gorloks will look to rebound this coming Saturday, Sept. 8 as they open SLIAC play at the Greenville Quad in Greenville, Ill. Webster will open the quad with an 11 a.m. match against Greenville, before facing SLIAC preseason favorite Westminster (Mo.) College at 1 p.m.