ST. PAUL – The University of Northwestern volleyball team came out looking as if it was going to extend its winning streak to 10 matches, but after a first set victory, the Eagles were overpowered by a gaining University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire squad in a 3-1 loss. UNW, who was coming off a 3-0 weekend, had defeated the Blugolds in the first match of the year, but had the season score evened in Tuesday's loss.

After slow starts, Northwestern came back with nice comebacks in both the first and second sets. Freshman Lindsey Peterson (Sheffield, Iowa/West Fork) was on fire early, using six kills in the first round to give the Eagles a 25-19 set victory. Lizzy Jonas (Neenah, Wis./Valley Christian ), the NCAA Division III's leader in assists per set, had 16 assists that round.

Set 2 looked like it would end in a similar way, but the Blugolds broke out of a 20-20 tie with three points in four plays. A hitting error by Eau Claire kept UNW in the set at 24-23, but Northwestern came back with an error on the flip side to hand the visitor on the scoreboard a victory to even the match score at 1-1.

Despite a 25-21 score, Set 3 was a game changer for the Purple and Gold as Northwestern's offense seemed to get out of sync. The scoreboard featured a 16-16 tie midway through the round, but Eau Claire came out of a timeout with three straight points and found itself with a five-point buffer shortly thereafter at 22-17. Cue two kills from Alexis Wong and the Blugolds had the set – and momentum – in hand.

The trend continued for Northwestern in the fourth round as a 7-7 tie suddenly turned into eight straight points and a 15-7 lead for Eau Claire. UNW, who was pushing for a fifth set (Northwestern has yet to lose a five-set match in 2014), was struggling with its offensive opportunities. The Eagles strung four straight points together with UW-Eau Claire sitting at 24 before the inevitable 25th point came for the Blugolds in a 25-18 set final to account for the 3-1 match score.

The Peterson sisters – Lindsey and now-married Hallie (Mueth) were UNW's go-to on offense for much of the match. Peterson finished the night with 17 kills, while Mueth had 16. Cari Miller (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) came on strong in the fourth set to cap the match with 12 kills and a .321 attacking rate. UNW, who hit .316 in the first set, went downhill in its attacking in each set before settling at .244 for the match. Jonas tallied 55 assists, with Lizzy Potratz (Oshkosh, Wis./Valley Christian ) leading the team with 23 digs on defense.

Eau Claire had four hitters finish with double-digit kills, including 17 from Katrina Raskie. Jenna Smits had 51 assists for the Blugolds (10-11).

Northwestern returns to the Ericksen Center for three more matches in a 24-hour span this weekend. The Eagles host Northland College at 7 p.m. on Friday before St. Scholastica and North Central come to campus for 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. contests on Saturday.