Box Score Box Score

The Saints volleyball team won the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament Championship with a 3-1 victory over the Northwestern Eagles in Reif Gym on Saturday night.

This was the second straight victory over the Eagles (27-6) for CSS after they won the regular season finale to earn the top seed in the UMAC Tournament.  This victory gives CSS the UMAC's automatic qualifier to the national tournament next weekend. 

The Saints came out of the gate hot as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead early but the Eagles would come back to tie it at seven.  The Saints and Eagles went back and forth for a few points before CSS pulled ahead 14-10.  The Saints wouldn't look back from that point on and retained the lead scoring 11 of the next 17 points to take set one 25-16.

The two teams went point for point early in the second set before the Eagles jumped out to a 12-9 lead.  CSS worked their way back to tie it at 14 and the teams went point for point again.  After a 17-17 tie the Saints scored 8 of the next 9 points for a 25-18 set win and a 2-0 game lead.

The Saints got ahead early in the second set and were leading 15-12 when Northwestern scored eight straight to take a 20-15 lead.  CSS made a late push but it wasn't enough to come back and the Eagles took set three to cut the deficit to one at 2-1 Saints.

In the fourth set the Saints looked drained as they were down 4-0 early. The Saints got a kill from Anna Zyvoloski (Sauk Rapids, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral HS (Minn.-Duluth)) to get on the board to make it CSS serve.  Megan Windschitl (Sartell, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral HS) earned a service ace on her first serve and followed by a pair of NWC errors, the game was tied at four.  Then came the back and forth play again from the two teams. 

CSS and NWC traded points on the way to an 11-11 tie.  The Saints would break that tie and slowly increase their lead from that point on.  With the Saints ahead 24-21 Jenny Kienzle (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown HS) and Sarah Kurtovich (Andover, Minn./Andover HS) set up Paige Hardy (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing HS) for the game-winning kill as the Saints took this one 3-1.

Nikki Hughes (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern HS) had another career night at the libero position with 30 digs, a career second best behind her 35-dig game in the UMAC semifinal.  Zyvoloski led the way for CSS with 15 kills.  Right behind her and earning a double-double was Hardy with 12 kills and 13 digs.  Caitlin McKernon (Coon Rapids, Minn./Fridley HS) added 11 kills of her own.  Kurtovich ended the night with 41 set assists.  Windschitl and Zyvoloski also ended the night with five blocks a piece.

The Saints (26-6) will await their fate for the national tournament as the seeding and tournament selections will be released on Monday.  Stay tuned for dates, times and locations of national tournament play at csssaints.com.