For the second match in a row, the Eastern Wyoming College volleyball team found itself on the wrong end of a five-set match.

The Lancers dropped the first two sets against Northeastern Junior College 19-25 and 23-25 before flipping the script for wins of 25-21 and 25-23 in the third and fourth sets.

EWC held an 8-7 lead when the teams switch sides, and were tied 10-10 before NJC went on a 5-1 run to close the fifth set 15-11.

"On one hand, you're proud of the fight and for making it a four-point loss when you were down two sets to none," EWC head coach Dante Geoffrey said. "On the other hand you know you can't fall behind like that against a team that talented and well-coached."

The near-comeback was led by freshman outside hitter Vanja Pržulj who had a game-high 18 kills and a .452 hitting percentage.

Sophomores Charlène Hosly and Tina Betham each added eight kills, freshman Alyssa Parmelee had seven and freshman Lauren Feierabend had four.

Freshman libero J'Adore Hayes had 19 digs, six assists and two aces.

Freshman setter Vittoria Cacciavillani had a team-high 20 assists, one more than sophomore Lexi Trowbridge, who nearly missed out on a double-double with nine digs.

Hosly added 10 digs and Parmelee had eight.

Feierabend led all players with four service aces. Sophomore Nadia Montalan El-Hiriche had three and Trowbridge had one.

"We get another chance at them [Northeastern] next week so we need to bring that 'backs-against-the-wall' mentality right from the start," Geoffrey said. "Playing teams like NJC helps us in our battle for region because we can calibrate our competitiveness against a team with national tournament aspirations."

The Lancers play in Sterling on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.