DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica volleyball team will look to bounce back and earn its first Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) victory on Tuesday night when it travels to face North Central University (Minn.).
Where:
CLC Gymnasium – Minneapolis, Minn.
When:
Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Social Media:
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/SaintsVball
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/csssaintsvball
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/css.saints
St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 3-10, 0-1 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
Last Action: The Saints suffered a tough three-set defeat to the University of Minnesota Morris in their home and conference opener on Saturday … CSS would have a total of 16 set points combined between the first two sets, but ultimately dropped both by scores of 33-31 and 30-28 …
Nikki Kienzle (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown HS) recorded a career-high 14 kills and
Christaia Houser (Esko, Minn./Homeschool) added a career-high seven blocks.
Tight Matches with the Cougars: In five of the last seven matches against Minnesota Morris, the Saints and Cougars have played at least one set that has gone past the regulation of 25 points to capture a set … The 64 combined points of set one on Saturday are the most for the Saints since the 72 combined points in the second round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament against the University of St. Thomas.
Need More Offense: The Saints are averaging only 10.5 kills per set thus far this season … That is the lowest average since 1995 season when the stat was first tracked
Service Issues: St. Scholastica has already recorded 89 service errors in 13 matches … Last season, CSS had a program-low 99 service errors all season (29 matches) … The Saints have also had troubles receiving serves with 83 reception errors on the year.
It's not How you Start, but How you Finish: The Saints have lost 10 straight matches that have gone five sets … Three of the last five, five-set losses have come when the Saints won the first two sets … CSS has lost a match in which it led by two sets in each of the past three seasons … Prior to that, the last time it happened was the 2006 season … The last five-set victory for the Saints was on October 30, 2013 against UW-Superior.
UMAC Preseason Poll
1. Northwestern.......................................... 64 points (8 First Place Votes)
2. UW-Superior........................................... 53 points
3. St. Scholastica...................................... 50 points (1 First Place Vote)
4. Martin Luther........................................... 42 points
5. Minnesota Morris................................... 41 points
6. North Central.......................................... 25 points
7. Bethany Lutheran.................................. 23 points
8. Northland................................................. 15 points
9. Crown....................................................... 11 points
Upcoming Opponents
North Central Rams
Record: 6-7, 1-0 UMAC
The Rams will enter Tuesday's contest on a four-match winning streak … North Central has defeated Crown twice during that stretch, including in the conference opener on Friday night … The Rams have been good defensively holding opponents to a league low 9.2 kills per set … The Rams are also second in the UMAC averaging 1.68 service aces per set … Karlee Huber leads the squad with 2.49 kills per set … Setter Elissa Pheneger is third in the conference averaging 8.0 assists per set … Katie Strand ranks second in the conference with 0.45 service aces per set.
Series History: CSS leads North Central 10-0
Last Meeting: The Saints have swept the Rams in all 10 of their previous meetings.
Looking Ahead: The Saints will be at Bethany Lutheran College for a conference matchup on Friday night.
