Box Score ST. PAUL (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica volleyball team was swept by Northwestern College on Saturday afternoon in a battle of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference's (UMAC) top two teams.

In the opening set, the Saints fell behind 9-4, but rattled off six straight points to take a 10-9 lead. Then trailing 11-10, CSS went on a 7-1 run to take a 17-12 lead. The Saints led 23-19 after an Anna Zyvoloski (Sauk Rapids, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral HS (Minn.-Duluth)) kill, but the Eagles responded by scoring four straight points to tie it up. CSS then had a set point at 24-23, but Northwestern fought it off and scored the next three points to take the set 26-24.

The second set was tight throughout with 16 ties and nine lead changes. After the score was 7-4 neither team led by more than two points until the very end.With the Saints up 21-20, it was Northwestern again closing the set strong, scoring five of the final six points to win 25-22.

The Saints came out strong in the third set registering the first seven points on Erika Birkeland (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake HS)'s serve. The Eagles (20-8, 10-1 UMAC) quickly got back in it going on a 9-0 run to take an 11-9 lead. Later in the set, the Saints led 18-17, but the Eagles scored four straight points and would not relinquish the lead, winning the match in three 25-22.

Zyvoloski had 14 kills to lead the Saints. Taylor Tyllia (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) added eight kills and Kortney Morrin (Grantsburg, Wis./Grantsburg HS (Northern State)) recorded six kills. Birkeland had 33 set assists, while Jenny Kienzle (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown HS) had a team-high 15 digs. Lizzy Potratz had 14 kills to lead the Eagles.

The Saints (14-11, 9-2 UMAC) will be at Northland College for a midweek conference contest on Wednesday. Action is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.