TACOMA, Wash. — Day two of the Puget Sound Premiere wasn't as kind to the Pacific Lutheran University volleyball team as day one, dropped a pair of matches on Saturday inside Memorial Fieldhouse. The Lutes came up short 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-19, 25-18) against Gustavus Adolphus College to begin the day before stumbling 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-11) in the nightcap to host University of Puget Sound.
 
The Lutes (1-2) got off to a hot start in the opener against the reigning Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champion Golden Gusties (2-0), netting four of the opening five points, including a pair of aces off the serve of Macy Matsushima.

PLU led 20-15 off a Gustavus attack error but the Gusties responded by taking 10 of the next 12 points to take set one 25-22. PLU trailed 16-14 in the second set before getting an Alexis Eggert kill and three straight blocks from Julissa Pernsteiner to take an 18-16 advantage. Pernsteiner would keep the pedal on the gas the rest of the set, collecting three kills down the stretch as PLU leveled the match with a 25-20 set win.

Set three was a tight affair with Gustavus scoring the final three points to steal the 25-19 win before wrapping up the match with a 25-18 victory in set four. 
 
Haley Goto led the Lutes offense with 12 kills and a .346 attack percentage while Pernsteiner had 10 kills and five blocks, including three solo stuffs. The offense moved through Ayre Takamoto who had 34 of the squad's 42 assists while Macy Matsushima led the way with 27 digs.
 
In the nightcap, the Lutes and Loggers (1-2) traded jabs in the opening set. Host Puget Sound led 19-17 before finishing off the set by scoring six of the final eight to take set one 25-19. The Loggers were rolling in set two, scoring the first seven points and eight of the first nine, leading wire-to-wire in a 25-13 victory. Puget Sound tallied the first four points of the third and never looked back to take the match in three with a 25-11 set victory. 
 
Audrey Hansma led the Lutes with a half dozen kills while Takamoto had all but one of the squad's assist in the nightcap, finishing with 20. Matsushima had 13 digs with Savanna Colliado adding 10. 

"We played Gustavus really tough but lost down the end and Puget Sound was just good against us. Sometimes the other team just gets on a roll and it's very difficult to slow down," said Head Coach Kevin Aoki.

"Overall a very good weekend that we gained some valuable experience from. We're looking forward to next week at the tournament in Wisconsin."
 
Both of PLU's opponents on Saturday are receiving votes in the AVCA's Preseason Top 25 Poll. 
 
The Lutes are back on the court next Friday, heading to the Badger State for a showdown against second-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewarer.