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University of Minnesota Morris Athletics

Official Athletics Website of The University of Minnesota Morris
Ukestad
Photo courtesy of SPX Sports (David Faulkner)
2
Minnesota Morris UMM 22-12
3
Winner Saint Benedict CSB 26-7
Minnesota Morris UMM
22-12
2
Final
3
Saint Benedict CSB
26-7
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Minnesota Morris UMM 25 25 8 16 11 (2)
Saint Benedict CSB 23 23 25 25 15 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Cougars incredible postseason run comes to an end

ST. PETER, Minn. - The Minnesota Morris volleyball team's historic postseason run came to an end Saturday with a five-set loss (25-23, 25-23, 8-25, 16-25, 11-15) to Saint Benedict in an NCAA Division III second round matchup at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

Saturday's contest was a rematch of a late September tilt in St. Joseph that the Cougars won in four sets. After two sets were in the books Saturday, it appeared the Cougars would repeat that performance as they took a 2 sets to 0 lead on the Bennies with identical 25-23 set scores.

Like Friday, the Cougars appeared un-phased by the national tournament atmosphere. Aided by a 6-0 run, the Cougars raced out to a 12-4 lead in the first. Rachel Mathias, Layne Herrmann, and Tori Everson all delivered kills to help give UMM the early edge. St. Ben's would rally to pull within one at 16-15. A Mathias kill helped stretch the lead back to three at 19-16. Later, a 4-0 CSB spurt gave them a 22-21 lead. A Morgan Miller block tied the set at 22. Brenna Tinjum started a 3-0 closing set run with a kill that Everson ended with a smash and 1-0 Cougar lead.

The Bennies jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the second set. They still led by five at 16-11 before the Cougars started climbing back in. A block assist by Mathias and Whitney Schwartz and a service ace from Sierra Nori pulled UMM within 18-16. Later, down three, a 4-0 Cougar run, aided by three consecutive kills from Tinjum, gave them a 22-21 advantage. A Schwartz kill and an Alyssa Ukestad ace closed out the set in favor of a two-set Cougar lead.

St. Ben's dominated the next two sets to force a decisive fifth. Back-to-back kills from Mathias gave UMM a 2-1 lead. She would add two more kills as the two teams were tied at 8 in a back-and-forth affair. The Bennies took control from there scoring five of the next six points to take a 13-9 lead. Back-to-back kills by Tinjum pulled UMM within 13-11, but CSB would close out the set and match with two straight points.

Mathias led the Cougars with 22 kills. Tinjum added 16 kills and 13 digs. Herrmann totaled 48 assists and 13 digs. Ukestad led with 15 digs.

Minnesota Morris finishes the season with a 23-12 overall record.
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