Box Score - 1
Box Score - 2

St. Joseph, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris volleyball team had the tall order of taking on UMAC and MIAC heavyweights today (Sept. 18) in St. Scholastica and St. Benedict as they closed play at the St. Ben's Invite.

In the first match of the day, Minnesota Morris (6-7) dropped a 3-0 decision to UMAC favorite St. Scholastica by scores of 25-20, 25-13 and 25-21. In closing the day, UMM fell to MIAC power, and tourney host, St. Ben's 25-11, 25-22, and 25-15. In the latest AVCA top-25 poll, the Blazers were just outside the rankings, but did receive top-25 votes.

As she did yesterday, Megan Theis (Prior Lake, Minn.) paced the Cougars with 16 kills on the day, including 10 on just 26 attempts against St. Ben's. Theis swung for a .346 percentage against the Blazers, one of the best marks of the game. Theis also had two block assists in the St. Ben's match, as well as three digs on defense.

For her efforts on the weekend Theis was named to the All-Tournament team at the conclusion of action today, one of just six players honored.

The Cougar defense made their presence known in the narrow set two loss, as they held the Blazers to a mere .080 hitting percentage, forcing 10 errors in 50 attempts.

Shannon Stinchfield (St. Paul, Minn.) finished with nine kills in the two matches, collecting four against St. Scholastica and five more against St. Ben's.

Natalie Thomas (Champlin, Minn.) dished out 24 assists against St. Scholastica, but was held in check by the Blazers, finishing with just six. Nichelle Grage (Austin, Minn.) finished the match with a team high nine assists.

The losses mark an 0-4 weekend for the Cougars, their first such of the season. Next weekend, they will look to right the ship back at home for two matches on Sept. 24. On Friday night the Cougars play Northland and Concordia at 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. respectively, with the Lumberjills and Cobbers set to square off with each other in between.