John Carroll did everything it could to get back in the match Wednesday at Case Western Reserve University, only to have an empty tank when the match was on the line.

For the third time in this young season, the Blue Streaks came up on the short end in a five game affair, falling to the host Spartans 25-23, 25-18, 16-25, 20-25, 15-5.

Statistically speaking, John Carroll played its best set in the opening frame. Case led virtually wire-to-wire and held a 19-12 advantage only to have the Blue Streaks climb to within 24-23. The Spartans called timeouts at 23-21 and 24-23 before getting a game-winning play for the victory. JCU had 16 kills in that frame alone, led by Alexa Webber with five and Madeline McDowell with three..

The host squad rolled to a second game win and seemed on its way to a quick night. But the Blue Streaks showed resiliency and thumped the Spartans in game three, and used a quick start to win the fourth set to force a decisive game five.

Game four was highlighted by six JCU service aces, led by Nicole Pilewski with two.

Decisive it was to the chagrin of the Blue Streaks faithful. Case jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and after JCU got to within 3-2, would close out the match by winning 12 of the final 15 points.

Case (4-0) was paced by a match-high 20 kills from Brianna Lemon and 53 assists by Shannon Carroll.

On the other side of the net, Webber had a team-best 11 kills as one of three players in double figures for John Carroll (2-4). Kit O'Shaughnessy recorded 38 assists, and Katie Cosker contributed 18 digs.