Box Score - 1
Box Score - 2

St. Paul, Minn. – The University of Minnesota, Morris volleyball team split a pair of matches in St. Paul today (Sept. 30), falling in three to Northwestern, before coming back to sweep Waldorf.

In league action, Northwestern (9-9, 3-0) got the upper hand, winning by scores of 25-13, 25-22 and 25-18. The Cougars got off to a rough start, losing by eight points in the first set while hitting just -.128. Their hitting performance improved to a .100 mark in set two, before charting a .024 in game three, on their way to a -.009 on the day, easily their lowest of the season.

The Cougars finished with 24 kills in the match, with 10 coming from Megan Theis (Shakopee, Minn.). Theis hit a team high .280 against Northwestern, also finishing with a pair of block assists.

Natalie Thomas (Champlin, Minn.) finished with 19 assists, while Brita Humphrey (Minnetonka, Minn.) and Kaylie Clark (Garden Plains, Kans.) led in digs with 11 and 10 respectively.

Things improved in the second match of the day as the Cougars won 27-25, 25-18 and 25-15.  Twice UMM held Waldorf (6-18) to a negative hitting percentage, including a -.139 in the deciding third set.

Theis continued to lead the attack for the Cougars, with another 10 kills, against just one error for a .409 hitting percentage. She had one solo and two block assists, as the Cougars finished with a season high eight total blocks in the match.

Jordan Olerud (Redwood Falls, Minn.) joined Thies with 10 kills in the match, also adding eight digs, a block and a block assist to her day.

Thomas dished out 31 assists and Humphrey collected 20 digs. Sister Allie Humphrey (Minnetonka, Minn.) was also a force on the defensive side, notching a match high four block assists.

The Cougars now stand at 8-10 overall and 1-2 in UMAC play. They will get back to conference action tomorrow (Oct. 1), as they take on Crown in a 7:00 p.m. match-up.