FORT WAYNE, Ind. – On Friday evening the University of Saint Francis Cougars (10-8; 4-2 Crossroads) traveled to Marion, Indiana to take on the No. 12 Indiana Wesleyan University Wildcats (13-2; 6-0 Crossroads) but fell in three sets by scores of 25-17, 25-22, and 25-15.

After a thrilling upset victory over the No. 19 Taylor Trojans on Wednesday evening at Hutzell Athletic Center, the Cougars faced their second of three straight ranked conference opponents in hopes of picking up a second win.

As the match got underway the Wildcats took the early lead in the opening set as they jumped out 5-1 over the Cougars. But Saint Francis held steady and hung tight with the Wildcats chipping away and closing the deficit to one.

After that though, the Wildcats regained the momentum and put the Cougars away as they took the opening frame by eight.

Heading into the second set, the Cougars fell behind early again but rallied to tie and take the lead on several occasions. The two teams went back-and-forth throughout the frame, but the Wildcats gained an edge going on a three-point service run to take a 24-21 lead and held on to win by three and put the Cougars in a dire situation.

Down but not out the Cougars fought hard to stay with the Wildcats, but once the score was 16-14 in favor of Wesleyan, the Wildcats ran the table from there winning by 10 as the Cougars were dealt the loss as their four-game winning streak is snapped.

Throughout the match, senior defensive specialist Maile Steckelberg had a team-leading 15 digs, sophomore setter Alexa Sparks led in assists with 26, and sophomore outside hitter Paige Fortkamp led the way in kills with 10.

The Cougars resume play Saturday afternoon when they travel to Indianapolis, Indiana for another ranked opponent as they take on the No. 3 Marian University Knights (12-1; 4-1 Crossroads) beginning at 3:00 pm.

Cougar fans, stay updated with all events and recaps with USF Athletics by visiting Saintfranciscougars.com or by downloading the Saint Francis Cougars app.