Box Score Box Score

DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica volleyball team defeated Northland College tonight 3-1 in an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament Semifinal match at Reif Gym.

The Saints move on to the UMAC Tournament Championship against Northwestern College on Saturday night. The Saints lost last year at Northwestern in the title match.

The LumberJills held an 8-7 lead in the first set, but the Saints responded with an 11-2 run and took the opening set 25-13. It was all CSS in the second set as it never trailed and pulled away late to win by a score of 25-15. The Saints had a match-best 18 kills and a .455 attack percentage in the set.

Northland did not want its season to end in a sweep and played like it in the third set as it took a 6-0 lead and won convincingly by a score of 25-15.

St. Scholastica then fell behind 2-1 early in the fourth set, but scored the next eight points to take a 9-2 lead. It did not get much closer the rest of the way as the Saints took the set and the match by a score of 25-15.

#Paige Hardy# (Fr.-Hibbing, Minn.) matched a career-high with 23 kills and led the team with 27 digs. #Rebecca Udermann# (Sr.-Rosemount, Minn.) added 12 kills and #Megan Baartman# (Sr.-Andover, Minn.) had 11 kills. #Sarah Kurtovich# (Fr.-Andover, Minn.) had 40 set assists and two service aces.

The Saints and Eagles will get underway at 7 p.m. on Saturday night.