BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – In a battle between two of the top three teams atop the CCAC standings, IU South Bend struggled out of the gate on Thursday night, as the Titans fell in straight sets at Olivet Nazarene.

In a rematch of the Titans' home win back on September 7, IUSB (18-6, 14-2 CCAC) got off to a slow start, falling behind 14-4 in the opening set.  Trailing 19-7, the Titans would go on a 10-2 run started by kills from Amber Jacobs and Abby Seeger to pull within four, at 21-17. Olivet Nazarene (16-8, 12-3 CCAC) would rebound just in time to secure the opening game, scoring four of the last six points to take the set.

The Tigers used another long rally in the second set, scoring six in a row to turn a 7-6 advantage into a 13-6 lead midway through the game. IU South Bend struggled to avoid siding out, with a two-point run as their longest rally the rest of the way through the set.

The home team took an early lead again in game three, before the Titans evened the score at 5-5 with kills from Hannah Marchand and McKenzie Powell. Olivet Nazarene would come back with four straight points, and would lead throughout the rest of the set.

Julie Brown led the Titan attack with nine kills, with Powell recorded 23 assists on the night. Defensively, Suriya Van der Oord had a team-high 15 digs while Jacobs collected 12 digs with six kills.

The Titans return to the Student Activities Center for two matches next week, beginning on Tuesday night. IUSB will host Lincoln, in a CCAC match scheduled for 7:00 p.m.