La Verne, Cali. --  The Hornets opened play at the Leopard Invitational on Friday afternoon with a thriller against Muhlenberg, unfortunately the Mules snuck away with the win, 3-2 (15-25, 25-18, 25-18, 24-26, 15-10).

The Hornets snatched the opening set thanks to strong hitting percentage (.333), opposed to Muhlenberg's (-.031), and nine Muhlenberg errors to snatch the opening set.

Muhlenberg got out to a 10-6 lead in the second set but following a Lynchburg timeout, the Hornets rattled off five straight kills to jump into the lead. Command of the game for the Hornets was short-lived as the Mules evened up the score at 18-18 and then went on a 7-0 run to close out the second frame and square up the match at 1-1.

The third set was very similar as the Hornets jumped out to a 11-7 lead but it was quickly erased after seven straight points from Muhlenberg. The Mules followed that up with an 8-2 run to finish off the set and take a 2-1 advantage.

The Mules looked to be on the verge of victory in the fourth frame as they led 24-23 but the Hornets had different plans. Senior Jen Garrett smashed a beautiful pass from junior Lynn Walsh to even up the score, 24-24. A bad set for the Mules gave Lynchburg the lead, 24-25 and the Hornets capitalized as junior Mesa Willis won the set on an emphatic kill and sent the game to a fifth set.

Lynchburg hung around in the final set but a hitting percentage of -.045 impeded any rhythm in the offense and Muhlenberg ended up wining the set and match.

The long-distance travel and quick turnaround between games caught up to the Hornets in the second match as Whittier defeated the Hornets in straight sets, 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-12).

A superb offensive performance was the key to the Poets success as they increased their hitting percentage each set and ended the match with an impressive .284.

The Hornets struggled to find a good tempo and only held the lead twice in the second set. Freshman Heaven Jarrell turned in the best performance, finishing with 11 kills while junior Mesa Willis added seven more.

Garrett finished the day with 22 kills and 19 digs while Walsh finished with 44 assists, a season-high 36 coming in the match against Muhlenberg. Before today's matches, Garrett ranked second in second in kills per set (4.07) and sat atop the kills leaderboard (244) in the ODAC.

Freshman Lauren Stanford added 38 digs and two service aces. The standout Libero entered the day third in the conference for service aces per set (.53). Jarrell continues to excel at her new position on the outside turning in 25 kills while her fellow freshman Disa Haugsdahl had her third straight game of 5 blocks after the Muhlenberg match and registered 10 kills as well. Willis rounded out the Hornets with 18 kills.

The Friday losses were tough for the Hornets but the ladies look to bounce back tomorrow with another double bill scheduled as they face-off against La Verne and UC-Santa Cruz at 4 and 7 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) respectively.