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Box Score
St. Paul, Minn. – Despite a second place UMAC finish, tie-breakers forced the Minnesota, Morris volleyball team to go on the road in the first round of the conference tournament, to Northwestern, where the Cougars fell 3-1 in the opening round tonight (Nov. 3).
“We just ran into a team with a lot of playoff experience,” head coach Chad Braeglemann said. “They have a large, hungry senior class, and who didn't want to lose their last game on their home court.”
Despite the experience of the Eagles, the Cougars came out swinging and won the first set 25-20. They hit .361 in the match, en route to the win. Trailing by one at 14-13, the Cougars ripped off six of the next seven points to take a 19-15 lead that they would never relinquish.
“We came out on fire and played great in the first set.” Braegelmann said. It was a great way to start, but we just ran out of comebacks after going down 2-sets-to-1.
After falling in the opening set, the Eagles rebounded with three straight wins to take the match. They won 25-19 in the second set, 25-16 in the third and 25-17 in the deciding fourth set. What keyed the win for Northwestern, was their ability to play consistently, hitting at or near the .200 mark for nearly the entire match.
Conversely, the Cougars struggled as the match wore on. After hitting over .300 in the first set, UMM responded with a .167 mark in the second set loss, a .000 tally in set three, and finally a -.024 hitting percentage in the fourth set.
Steph Schmieising (Melrose, Minn.) led the Cougars on the night, tallying 12 kills while hitting .308. With five kills and just one error, Natalie Thomas hit a team high .400, but made her mark with her 36 assists on the evening, her fifth straight match with over 30.
In contrast to Thomas' streak, one run that came to an end was the Cougars nine match winning-streak and their 13-1 they were as they closed the season.
“We had a great run,” Braegelmann said. “It was a fun October, and we played some really great matches.”
The Cougars end their season at 20-12 overall, after tying for second in the UMAC in the regular season with Northwestern, with identical 11-3 records.
Northwestern improves to 25-13, and moves on to play St. Scholastica in the UMAC Tournament Championship game on Saturday, Nov. 6, with a berth in the NCAA Tournament on the line.
