Northwestern makes it six-straight UMAC volleyball postseason titles
ST. PAUL, Minn.---For the last five years, one thing has been consistent in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) volleyball – the University of Northwestern and the University of Minnesota Morris have undoubtedly been the top two programs and have faced off in the UMAC postseason tournament championship game.
What also remained the same is the No. 1-seeded Eagles again emerged victorious and captured a sixth-straight tournament title after defeating the No. 2-seeded Cougars 3-0 (26-24, 25-20, 25-23) in a hard-fought battle Saturday.
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Tournament Site |
Box Score |
The Eagles' win earned them the UMAC's bid to the NCAA tournament – which will make this the eight-consecutive fall Northwestern will compete in the national championship.
Though the Eagles won in three, the set victories didn't come easy, especially in a high-competitive first set. The Eagles climbed out to an early 8-4 lead in the opener before Minnesota Morris won some solid points and an incredible rally to pull even at 10-10. The Cougars eventually took a 16-13 lead and were leading 20-18 with just five points to go. However, the Eagles eventually broke the deadlock and took the first set 26-24.
In the second set, the Cougars led early by just a margin of two points. The Eagles roared back quickly and jumped to a five-point lead at 20-15 before taking the set by that same margin. The third set saw the two teams match one another point-for-point until the Cougars evened the score at 23-23 and looked as if they might pull off the upset to remain in the match. Back-to-back kills for the Eagles would win the set and the match.
Lindsey Peterson led the Eagles with an impressive 18 kills and 16 digs for a double-double performance in which she hit an impressive .436. The senior won the Tournament MVP honor after finished two atches with 35 kills and 24 digs to anchor the Eagles.
Jackie Doering finished with a match-high 17 digs, while Leesa Malone fueled the offense with 24 assists. Mariah Halvorsen also added seven more kills to finish the tournament with 19.
The Cougars' Marissa Ekness matched Peterson with a match-high 17 kills and ends a spectacular career with 31 kills in the UMAC tournament. Layne Herrmann finished with 36 assists Saturday and 76 in the tournament for an average of 12.6 assists per set. Katie Reitsma matched Doering with 17 digs.
The Eagles are currently ranekd No. 1 in the NCAA Central Region and will learn their postseason fate Monday at 11:30 a.m. on
ncaa.com for the Division III volleyball selection show. Minnesota Morris is also No. 8 in the same region and will wait to see if its name is called Monday.
Playoff Schedule
Quarterfinal Round – Monday, Oct. 30
No. 4 Martin Luther def. No. 5 St. Scholastica 3-2 |
Box Score |
Semifinal Round – Wednesday, Nov. 1
No. 1 Northwestern def. No. 4 Martin Luther 3-0 |
Box Score |
No. 2 Minnesota Morris def. No. 3 Wisconsin-Superior 3-0 |
Box Score |
Championship – Saturday, Nov. 4
No. 1 Northwestern def. No. 2 Minnesota Morris 3-0 |
Box Score |
All tournament information including scores, recaps, team information and more can be found on the UMAC Volleyball Tournament page. Keep up with all of the tournament action on Twitter and Instagram using #UMACchamp.