Notables
- The loss against Morris puts the series score at 24-14, in favor of the Saints
- Elvehjem led the team with 10.5 points on the day
- The Saints haven't won a match at Jim Gremmels Court since September of 2012
MORRIS, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica volleyball team fell short in Saturday afternoon's conference opener against the University of Minnesota Morris at Jim Gremmels Court by a score of 3-0.
After coming off of a solid weekend at the UMAC Preview, the Saints fell in three consecutive sets to the Cougars. In the Preview, the Saints took down Morris 3-0, but it was turned around on them when it counted most in the opener.
The first set was the closest by far, as neither team was able to close it out until the Cougars pulled away with a 29-27 victory. The set started with Morris taking the first three points, then the Saints answering with four points of their own. The Saints got the lead up to five when they took a 14-9 advantage after a Cougar error. The set then went back and forth until the Cougars clawed back into the set and won it in extras 29-27.
St. Scholastica yet again had an early lead in the second set, finding themselves up 6-4 early on. The Cougars then tacked on three straight points and slowly increased their lead to 20-13 thanks to three straight kills from Marissa Ekness. Noelle Elvehjem (Mora, Minn./Mora HS) and Nikki Kienzle (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown HS) got a few back for the Saints, but Morris took the set 25-19.
The last set ended the same as the second with a final of 25-19 in favor of the Cougars. Errors got to the Saints in the last set, as they started the set up 6-2, but slowly lost it due to crucial errors. The Saints ended the set with six errors to the Cougars' two.
The Saints were led by Elvehjem, who recorded 10 kills in the match. Amanda Belden (Esko, Minn./Esko HS) came up with nine of her own kills. Emily Jansen (Long Prairie, Minn./Long Prairie-Grey Eagle HS) tallied up 18 assists, and Kortney Morrin (Grantsburg, Wis./Grantsburg HS (Northern State)) had a team-high 16 digs.
Marissa Ekness led the Cougars on the day with 15 kills and four blocks. Brooke Decker filled up the assist column with a team-high 38, while Katie Reitsma tied St. Scholastica's Morrin with 16 digs of her own.
Up Next
The Saints (9-7, 0-1 UMAC) will try to bounce back from the opening loss with a win against North Central at the Reif Gymnasium on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
