MORRIS, Minn. – This weekend is especially light for Cougars athletics, given it is late September. Football, volleyball and women's soccer are the only teams in action.
VOLLEYBALL Minnesota Morris (8-7) will open up UMAC play with St. Scholastica on Saturday, looking to get revenge after a non-conference loss to the Saints last Friday in the UMAC Preview. The Cougars and Saints meet just one time in conference under the new conference scheduling, which makes Saturday's match a big one for both teams.
Last season the Cougars rallied back to beat St. Scholastica in the UMAC semi-finals, a match neither team has likely forgot. The UMAC could be a three team race between UMM, Scholastica and Northwestern, which gives Saturday's match extra importance.
The Cougars will have all three UMAC Players of the Week in action this weekend against the Saints. On Tuesday night
Marissa Ekness set a new school record with 92 attacks in a match. She finished with 27 kills, matching a career high.
FOOTBALL Morris (1-2, 1-1 UMAC) heads to Iowa Wesleyan looking for their second straight road win for the first time since the 2012 season.
The Minnesota Morris defense is fifth in the nation with six fumble recoveries in 2015.
Jeremy Sloneker is first in the nation with three fumble recoveries alone. Overall the team has forced nine turnovers this year, which ranks 14th in the NCAA.
On the year the Cougars have 23 tackles-for-loss this year, an average of 7.7 per game which ranks 61st in the country.
Clayton Saiz leads the team with 1.7 tackles-for-loss per game.
Freshman
Devan Griffin will get the start at quarterback this Saturday; it will be his first start of his career. On the year he is 7-17 for 58 yards and four interceptions. If Griffin is able to throw a touchdown pass he will become the first known player to have a rushing, receiving and passing touchdown in a season in team history.
Iowa Wesleyan is looking for their first win of the year when they host Minnesota Morris for their 2015 Homecoming. Like Morris, the Tigers have struggled offensively on the year. They are averaging just 204.7 yards of total offense. The offensive struggles have been evident on third down and in the red-zone. Iowa Wesleyan is 9-42 on third downs and just 3-9 inside the opponent's 20 yard line. Four interceptions and two fumbles have played a role in those numbers as well. The Tigers offensive line has allowed 18 sacks. Defensively Iowa Wesleyan does not have a sack and has allowed 32.7 points per game.
WOMEN'S SOCCER The women's soccer team travels to Omaha to take on Grace University in a non-conference matchup. The Cougars (2-3, 2-1 UMAC) will look to rebound after dropping a match to Northland last Saturday.
This will be UMM's first match in Nebraska since 2002 when the Cougars were in the Northern Sun. Morris lost 5-3 to Wayne State during that trip to Nebraska.
This season the Cougars have been led by
Molly Hancuh and
Torri Jordan this season. Hancuh leads the team in scoring with six goals this season. Jordan has been the stronghold in the net, keeping the Cougars in several matches.
