ST PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Morris (23-12) saw their season end in the UMAC Championship match for the second straight year, falling 25-22, 24-15, 25-10 to Northwestern (23-10). The Cougars were held to a season low .007 hitting in the match as the Eagles racked up 7 blocks, 81 digs and forced 20 attack errors on the night.
 
The Cougars started off the match with three straight points in the first set but the Eagles quickly tied it up with three points of their own. The two teams traded points back and forth and the match was tied at 13 midway through the set. The Eagles gained a little bit a breathing room and forced a UMM timeout after taking a 19-17 lead. Out of the timeout Northwestern extended their lead to four and forced another Cougar timeout. Northwestern would take the set 25-22 after the Cougars tried to rally late.
 
Northwestern jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set and forced a quick UMM timeout after extending their lead to 7-2. Another Cougars timeout was taken after Northwestern extended their lead to 12-4. Morris was unable to recover and Northwestern took a two set lead thanks to a 25-14 win the second set.
 
Morris was forced into another quick timeout in the third set after the Eagles jumped out to a 7-2 lead. The lead grew to 11-3 and the Cougars took another timeout to try and slow the Eagles momentum. The plan did not work as the Eagles cruised to a 25-10 win in the third set.
 
Offensively the Cougars had a season low 21 kills on the night. Marissa Ekness led the team with six kills. Cori Becker added four. Emily Auch and Abby Tietz each had three kills. Tietz comes up just one kill shy of 1,000, a career milestone she will attempt to reach next season. Hannah Terhaar finished the night with 18 digs to lead the UMM defense.