Cougars, Eagles win to set up UMAC volleyball championship rematch Saturday
ST. PAUL, Minn.---For the seventh-consecutive season, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) volleyball tournament championship match will feature No. 1 University of Northwestern and No. 2 University of Minnesota Morris as both squads picked up semifinal wins Wednesday evening.
The No. 1 Eagles survived a 3-2 (25-13, 25-22, 26-28, 21-25, 15-6) thriller against No. 4 University of Wisconsin-Superior while the No. 2 Cougars came back to defeat No. 3 College of St. Scholastica 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-15).
SEMIFINAL 1: No. 1 Northwestern def. No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior, 3-2 | Box Score | Photos |
Coming off a big win over No. 2 Minnesota Morris to end the regular season, No. 1 Northwestern had a ton of momentum heading into the semifinals against No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior. However, the Eagles had to battle back in a fifth set after dropping two-straight to a Yellowjacket team that battled to extend the match in the third set.
Northwestern cruised in the opening set winning 25-13 to make a statement early. They then came out in the second set in control before allowing the Yellowjackets to take a 22-20 lead. The Eagles rattled off five-straight points to end the set and go up 2-0.
The third set was very competitive with the teams remaining within a few points of one another throughout until the Yellowjackets finally surged for two-straight points to take the set 28-26. That gave the 'Jackets momentum into the fourth where they held off the Eagles for a 25-21 to even it 2-2. The Eagles came out swinging, though, and weren't ready to go down at home as they dominated the final set 15-6.
First-year Kendra Hardy led the attack for the Eagles with 19 kills and three blocks. Three other players tallied double digits in kills including Kalley Schwitters (15), Jenay Fuglestad (14) and Anna Gasch (10). Schwitters finished with a double-double adding 21 digs, while Marylyn Schroyer led the match with 33 digs. Sydney Schwitters recorded 56 assists in the win.
For the Yellowjackets, Hannah Goggleye posted a team-high 15 kills and Cami Sletta added 13. Yana Carrera led defensively with 25 digs with Gina Baertsch collecting a team-best 24 assists. After a hard fought battle, the Yellowjackets' season ended Wednesday with a 16-19 overall record.
SEMIFINAL 2: No. 2 Minnesota Morris def. No. 3 St. Scholastica, 3-1 | Box Score |
The No. 2 Cougars and No. 3 Saints met early in the conference season with the Cougars taking the match in straight sets. However, the Saints went on to win the remainder of their conference matches and hoped that they could take the postseason matchup from the Cougars. That wasn't the case, though, as the Cougars ook down the Saints 3-1 in the semifinal Wednesday.
The Saints came out strong to start the match taking the opening set 25-19 after being down early. In order to win the opening set, the Saints went on a 8-2 run to close it out and take the early advantage. However, in the second set, the Cougars were able to battle their way back in closing the set with their own 9-4 run to even the score at 1-1.
The momentum the quickly shifted in favor of the Cougars as they picked up a win in the third set 25-14 before closing out the match 25-15 for the 3-1 victory.
The victorious Cougars had a balanced attack as Morgan Miller, Brenna Tinjum and Tori Everson each recorded 12 kills to lead the match. Everson added 12 digs for a double-double performance with libero Alyssa Ukestad also collecting 12 digs. Senior setter Layne Herrmann fueled the offense with 44 assists.
For the Saints, Jessica Remer led the attack with 10 kills. Alcia Draper recorded a match-high 17 digs, while Espi Autsvold and Katie Brostrom split setting duties picking up 12 and 11 assists, respectively. The Saints end their season with a 16-9 after winning a share of the conference title for the first time since 2011.
The wins for the Eagles and Cougars sets up a rematch at Northwestern from the season finale a week ago in which the Eagles defeated the Cougars in straight-sets to earn the top seed in the tournament. Last year, the Cougars knocked off the Eagles for the first time to make the program's first NCAA tournament appearance.
The No. 1 Eagles will host the No. 2 Cougars in the conference postseason championship game at 7 p.m. in St. Paul, Saturday. The winner of the tournament championship game will earn the conference's automatic qualifying berth to the NCAA Championship.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Quarterfinal Round – Monday, Nov. 4
No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior def No. 5 Bethany Lutheran, 3-0 |
Box Score |
BLC Recap |
UWS Recap |
Semifinal Round – Wednesday, Nov. 6
No. 1 Northwestern def. No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior, 3-2 |
Box Score |
UNW Recap |
UWS Recap |
No. 2 Minnesota Morris def. No. 3 St. Scholastica, 3-1 |
Box Score |
CSS Recap |
UMM Recap |
Championship – Saturday, Nov. 9
No. 2 Minnesota Morris AT No. 1 Northwestern; St. Paul, Minn., 7 p.m. |
Live Stats |
Live Video |
TICKET INFORMATION
- 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.
Tournament Championship Page