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Morris, Minn. – The Minnesota Morris volleyball team let a golden opportunity slip away tonight (Oct. 14), seeing their two-game lead evaporate as visiting St. Scholastica won the final three sets to come all the way back for a 3-2 victory in a classic Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) match.

Playing in front of a raucous P.E. Center crowd, the Cougars used the home court advantage to jump out to a 2-0 lead on set wins of 25-18 and 27-25. From their though, the Saints flipped a switch can ran off set wins of 25-14, 25-15 and 15-12 respectively.

In the deciding fifth set, the Morris (12-8, 4-4 UMAC) nearly seized the momentum back from St. Scholastica (16-6, 6-1 UMAC) who had just won the last two sets. With the Saints leading 11-8, the Cougars used three straight kills to pull even, and after a Saint point to end the run, Kaylie Clark (Garden Plain, Kans.) came back with a big kill to tie the set again. But as they had after dropping the first two sets, the Saints regrouped to take the next three points and complete the comeback.

The Cougars hit .316 and .271 in their two wins, but had a high of just .138 in their three losses. The Saints meanwhile turned the tables and hit .303, .237 and .304 in their three wins. The Cougars out hit the Saints 65-kills-to-60, and out dug them 88-to-83 for the match, despite the loss. In fifth set, the Cougars almost over came their seven errors to the Saints none, as the set was tied 12-12 before CSS took the final three points for the win.

In one of the most exciting matches in the P.E. Center in recent memory Morris took nine of the final 14 points for their first set win, before coming back to win the second. St. Scholastica led 13-8 early and 23-20 late, before the Cougars ran off four straight. After trading the next three points the Cougars took the final two on a kill from Clark and an ace by Natalie Thomas (Champlin, Minn.) to go up 2-0.

Clark had a career night, posting the first 20-20 match of her young tenure with career highs of 20 kills and 23 digs. It was her seventh double-double of the season, as she led the way on both ends of the floor.

Thomas finished with 55 assists, setting four different players to double-digit kills. Emily Auch (Benson) finished with 13 to go along with 19 digs for her fifth straight double-double, and seventh overall. Allie Humphrey (Minnetonka, Minn.) also added 12 kills while hitting a match high .333, with Stephanie Schmiesing (Melrose, Minn.) adding 10.



In the third set, the Saints used three straight points to go up 11-7 and never trailed again. A 9-to-2 run later effectively put the match away, giving the Saints an insurmountable 22-12 lead.

The fourth set was relatively close throughout, but as they did the set before, the Saints turned it up a notch late, and took eight of the final nine points to force the fifth set.

The loss was not for a lack of effort, as they Cougars posted season highs for kills (65) and attempts (195), with the fans witnessing some of the hardest hit balls of the season. However, they must now find a way to break out of their season-long three-match losing streak.

They will have to regroup quick too, as the Cougars will be back in action tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m., finishing off the weekend hosting Northland. In their previous meeting in Ashland on Sept. 25, the Cougars swept, posting their best hitting night of se season with a .356 mark.