Clawson fell to host Warren Mott in five sets (9-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-23, 16-14) on Monday, losing its first match in conference play this season.

Hayley Kauffman led the Trojans with eight kills, 10 blocks and two aces. Charlie Verner had 14 kills and 16 digs, and Aliyah Vesper had 12 kills and 17 digs. 

Ava LaMotte had 16 digs and four aces, and Natty Lertkasem had 14 digs and four aces. Gabrielle Kalcec had eight blocks, and Jillian Liford had four kills.

Renata Carlesimo had 22 assists, 16 digs and four kills, and Anna Smith had 17 assists and nine digs.

Clawson rolled to a big lead in the first set, scoring 12 straight points behind Verner's serving to lead 21-6. After two kills by Vesper and an error by Mott, Verner then got the kill to give the Trojans the 25-9 win.

The Trojans took that momentum into the second set, and led by at most six points. Mott would rally and bring it within one point late in the set, but Kalcec earned two big blocks to seal the 25-22 win in the second.

In the third, Clawson built up a nine point lead at 21-12, but costly errors on both offense and defense allowed Mott to inch closer. The Trojans were looking at match point with a 24-22 lead, but Mott put together back-to-back kills to tie the game, then forced two more errors to win the third set 26-24.

The two teams played relatively even in the fourth, and Clawson saw its biggest lead at 20-15 after a block by Kauffman. Mott fought back hard, thanks in part to strong plays from their outside hitter. The Trojans tried to keep them in check, but two hitting errors and one dig error allowed Mott the 25-23 win in the fourth to even the match at 2-2.

Clawson retaliated early in the fifth set, jumping out to a 7-3 lead and forcing a timeout. That lead was extended to 9-3, but Mott pushed back to a 10-10 tie. Ten more very intense points played out, but Mott would be the team to emerge with a 16-14 win in the fifth to complete the comeback.

Clawson is now 8-1 in the MAC Silver, and 17-6 overall.