MORRIS, Minn. - The Minnesota Morris volleyball team opened up conference play by hosting No. 21 Northwestern and Northland as part of a UMAC Triangular event Saturday at the PE Center. After falling to Northwestern, the Cougars bounced back to sweep Northland to gain a split in their matches.

UMM was swept by the Eagles in the opening match of the day, but the match was a lot closer than the score would indicate. Each set went down to the wire with the Eagles putting together late rallies to capture the match 25-22, 25-22, 25-23.

The Cougars recovered nicely to sweep the Lumberjills in the nightcap 25-11, 25-20, 25-9.

UMM opened the match scoring eight of the first nine points. Whitney Schwartz back-to-back kills and a Brenna Tinjum kill gave the Cougars an 8-1 lead. Later, two more Tinjum kills ended a 5-0 Cougar run that gave them a 22-9 lead on their way to a 14-point set win.

The second set was much tighter. Northlan led 12-10 before a 6-0 Cougar run gave them control of the set. Hailey Remme delivered three kills that helped give UMM a 16-10 edge. A Schwartz kill ended a 3-0 Northland run that ended the set in the Cougars' favor.

UMM scored the first eight points of the third set on their way to a 16-point set victory.

Minnesota Morris (5-7, 1-1 in UMAC) travels to Mankato for a UMAC Triangular Tuesday for matches against Martin Luther and Bethany Lutheran.