It was a tough way for John Carroll to say goodbye to September.

With what had been a strong month in which the Blue Streaks began 10-4, JCU ended teh month with three losses, including a pair of defeats Saturday at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.

In the opening match, which was against Ohio Athletic Conference foe Muskingum University, the Blue Streaks loss in three (21-25, 26-28, 16-25). John Carroll then followed that with a five set loss to Mount Vernon Nazarene (25-21, 15-25, 25-16, 17-25, 9-15).

The Blue Streaks faced off with a Muskie squad that was 15-2 coming into University Heights. A close first game set up a classic second game in which John Carroll rallied from down 23-20 to tie up the frame at 24-24 thanks to a pair of Sarah Calabrese kills and a block by Audrey Hardig and Kailee Herbst that knotted the score.

But after a time out, Muskingum sealed the deal by taking the final two points, then cruised to a wire-to-wite win in game three.

Calabrese led the way with 16 kills, and Caitlin Cianciolo was productive on the back line with 18 digs.

The second match with the MVNU Cougars was a marathon in which JCU led by a 2-1 count after three games only to have the visitors rally back for the win. The Cougars had hotting percentage of .481 in game four and .385 in game five to propel them to a win.

Brooke Hjerpe had a team-high 18 kills and two service aces, while Calabrese (16) and Cassi Calamunci (10) also reached double figures in the attack. Ally Bartolone and Rachel Bleile combined for 46 assists, and Cianciolo picked up 17 digs.

John Carroll is now 10-7 on the season.