Notables
- Morrin set her career high in digs with 35 on the night
- Belden set a career high in kills on the night, recording 16 in the loss
- Emily Jansen (Long Prairie, Minn./Long Prairie-Grey Eagle HS) and Emily Kessler (Blackberry, Minn./Greenway HS (Itasca CC)) both had a career high 26 assists in the game tonight as well
- CSS has now lost seven straight 5-set matches
- The Saints are now 5-14 all-time against UW-Stout after losing their fourth straight against the Blue Devils
DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica volleyball team took a tough loss against the University of Wisconsin-Stout Blue Devils Tuesday night at the Reif Gymnasium coming from two sets down to force a fifth set only to fall 15-12 in the decisive set.
The Saints went back and forth with the Blue Devils for much of the first set, then started to create a bit of a lead when Kortney Morrin (Grantsburg, Wis./Grantsburg HS (Northern State)) got rolling with back-to-back kills to make the score 15-12. UW-Stout then scored four unanswered points and the set was eventually tied at 17-17. The Saints made a few key errors at the end of the set and the Blue Devils closed out set one with seven straight points and won 25-18.
The second set went much like the first, with both teams going on runs until the set was tied at 20 apiece. The Saints got to 24 first, thanks to three out of the four kills coming from Morrin, but were unable to take advantage of the 24-23 lead and fell again in set two 26-24.
The Saints finally got things rolling their way in the third set, as they jumped out to a 15-6 lead. The Saints then gave the Blue Devils their next four points through attack errors and UW-Stout started to gain back momentum. The Blue Devils erased the early 15-6 deficit and tied the set at 20-20, then took the next point to gain the lead for the first time in the set. The Saints wouldn't let this one slip away, however, as they scored five straight points to win their first set of the night, with Amanda Belden (Esko, Minn./Esko HS) notching the last two kills of the set.
St. Scholastica needed another win to force a fifth set, and early on in set four it didn't look too good for the home team. They dug themselves into a hole and were down 6-1 before Coach Moore called a timeout to regroup her players. Whatever she said worked, as the Saints came thundering back and ended up tying the set at 11. The Blue Devils would then answer with two different sets of three point sprees and climb back to a commanding 20-14 lead. UW-Stout then committed eight errors in the rest of the set and the Saints were able to capitalize and take set four 25-23.
The beginning of the fifth set was back and forth between UW-Stout's Kennedy Strain and St. Scholastica's Morrin, as both had three kills before either team hit double digits. Both teams battled hard and the score showed as it read 10-10 in set number five. The Blue Devils then scored four straight to make it a 14-10 set, but weren't able to close out the set before the Saints tacked on two more points. The final score of the fifth set was 15-12 in favor of the Blue Devils.
The Saints were led by Morrin (21 kills, 35 digs), Belden (16 kills), Noelle Elvehjem (Mora, Minn./Mora HS) (eight kills, five blocks). The Blue Devils were led by Strain, who recorded 19 kills and five blocks, as well as Ashley Pratt, who tallied up 13 kills and six blocks.
Up Next
The loss puts the Saints at 12-9 on the season, while the win boosts UW-Stout's record to 12-11. The Saints will take part in the UW-Eau Claire Nike/Eastbay Sandy Schumacher Memorial Tournament this Saturday, where they will play both Concordia College-Moorheadd and UW-Platteville. The first game is slated to start at noon with the second game to follow right after.
