Saints cruise into semifinal round of UMAC volleyball tournament
Photo by Derek Montgomery
DULUTH, Minn.---Twice this season the College of St. Scholastica captured victory over Bethany Lutheran College during the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) season. However, with the stakes a little higher in the postseason, the Vikings looked to make the third time a charm against the Saints.
That wasn't the storyline that played out, though, when the two teams met Monday. The No. 4-seeded Saints use home-court advantage to score a quick 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-21) win over the No. 5-seeded Vikings which sent the Saints into the semifinal round set for Wednesday.
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Tournament Site |
Box Score |
The Saints opened the first set with five-straight points and quickly built on that early lead to go up 1-0. In set two, the Vikings scored three-consecutive points to go up 3-1 before allowing the Saints to comeback with four points of their own in a row to go up 6-3. The Vikings evened the set several times before finally taking a lead at 18-17. However, the Saints responded with eight-straight points to end the set 25-18 and go up 2-0 for the match.
In the third-and-final set, the Saints built a four-point lead early and held off a threat late from the Vikings, but never surrendered the lead. The win was the first postseason victory for the Saints since 2015.
Brooke Schermann led the Saints with an 11-kill, 19-dig double-double performance. Sofia Rajala also contributed significantly with eight kills and hit .375 on the night. Taylor Thompson added 12 digs to anchor the defense, while Ellie Greenwaldt had a team-high 20 assists.
For the Vikings, Megan Rutt tallied a match-high 12 kills, while Mackenna Hinz tied for a match-high 19 digs. Kalli Mathiason recorded a match-best 22 assists.
With the win, the No. 4 Saints move on to the semifinal round to face No. 1 seed University of Northwestern at 7 p.m. Wednesday in St. Paul. The other semifinal will feature No. 2 University of Wisconsin-Superior hosting No. 3 University of Minnesota Morris at 7 p.m. in Superior, Wisconsin.
Playoff Schedule
Quarterfinal Round – Monday, Oct. 29
No. 4 St. Scholastica def. No. 5 Bethany Lutheran, 3-0 |
Box Score |
BLC Recap |
CSS Recap |
Semifinal Round – Wednesday, Oct. 31
No. 4 St. Scholastica AT No. 1 Northwestern; St. Paul, Minn., 7 p.m. |
Live Video |
Live Stats |
No. 3 Minnesota Morris AT No. 2 Wisconsin-Superior; Superior, Wis. 7 p.m. |
Live Video |
Live Stats |
Championship – Saturday, Nov. 3
Lowest remaining seed at highest remaining seed; Location and time, 7 p.m.
Ticket Information
All UMAC postseason events have the following set admissions prices: Adults, $10; college students and seniors, $5; youth (Age 6-18), $5; age 5 and under, FREE. Any UMAC students, faculty and staff are free with a valid and current institutional ID. No other passes will be accepted.
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.