MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris volleyball team turned in a couple of confidence-building performances on Saturday afternoon, taking down both Buena Vista University and Concordia College (MN) in four sets each. The Cougars went down a set in both matches to the visitors, then roared back with three straight set wins in both, improving to 4-7 on the season.

UMAC play opens on Tuesday night for Minnesota Morris with a trip to Crown College. The match in St. Bonifacius is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.

Minnesota Morris 3, Buena Vista 1
(23-25, 26-24, 25-18, 25-18)
Laura Wellbrock notched 21 kills to lead three Minnesota Morris players with double-figure kills in the match as the Cougars came back from a set down to start the day off with a win. 

Buena Vista led most of the way in the first set until a three-point rally for Minnesota Morris tied things up at 23-23. Lydia Nash started it off with a kill and then teamed with Maggie Jones for a block that made it 23-22 and BV ended the run with an attack error. The Beavers were able to right the ship with consecutive kills from Sydney McLaren to take a 25-23 decision.

Minnesota Morris had a quick start to the second set, going on top, 6-1. Buena Vista answered back and soon took a small lead on the Cougars. Ties and lead changes became the norm from there. With the score 22-22, kills from Nash and Jenna Howden gave UMN Morris a set point at 24-22. Again, McLaren was there with back-to-back kills to extend the set at 24-24, but a Buena Vista service error and an ace from Alyssa Ukestad gave the Cougars the set to knot the match up at 1-1.

That seemed to be the boost that the Cougars needed as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third set on the serve of Madeline Monaco and never trailed. Minnesota Morris were never ahead by less than three points and led by eight on a number of occasions. Late in the set, the Cougars were up 22-18 when Jones had a kill and Buena Vista committed two attack errors in a row to end it and put Minnesota Morris ahead, 2-1.

The Beavers led briefly in the fourth set, but the story was much the same as in the third set. Minnesota Morris pulled ahead early on and Buena Vista was unable to make up the gap. Wellbrock came through with a number of kills as the set progressed, ending any hopes of a comeback for the visitors. With the score again at 22-18 in favor of UMN Morris, McKenzie Newton notched a kill, followed by one from Jones and a BV attack error to end the match.

Wellbrock had a double-double in the match with 21 kills and 15 digs, hitting .304. Nash added 12 kills and Howden had 10. Newton had 52 assists and 10 digs in the opener. Ukestad had 20 digs, Abbie Higley had 16, and Sydney Eckhoff notched another 12. At the net, Nash and Jones each had four block assists.

Minnesota Morris 3, Concordia (MN) 1
(24-26, 25-20, 25-20, 25-18)
Minnesota Morris went behind a set for the second match in a row, but responded just as they did earlier in the afternoon and overwhelmed Concordia from the second set on.

The Cougars were ahead in the opening stages of the first set but Concordia came back with a number of small rallies. The score was 24-23 in favor of Minnesota Morris, but the Cougars were tagged with an attack error on set point and Anna Brakke then notched a pair of kills to give the Cobbers the opening set.

Concordia started off well in the second set and forced a timeout from Minnesota Morris that didn't slow the momentum right away. The Cobber lead crested at 14-8 and was still a comfortable 20-16 margin when the Cougars suddenly ran off nine points in a row to stun the visitors and take a 25-20 decision to level the match at 1-1. Wellbrock had two kills and Eckhoff had a pair of aces in that nine-point swing.

The third set was close early on, but Concordia's final lead came at 8-7. Wellbrock and Newton each had kills to give Minnesota Morris the lead and Eckhoff added an ace to make it 10-8. The teams traded sideouts throughout much of the set, leaving the score at 22-19 for the Cougars. The set ended with UMN Morris receiving its final three points courtesy of Cobber errors.

Much like the second set, things were close throughout much of the fourth set until Minnesota Morris exploded at the end to put the match away. Consecutive points for Concordia cut the Cougar lead down to 18-17 and had UMN Morris using a timeout. From that point on, Minnesota Morris scored seven of the final eight points, two of which came off kills from Kennedy Geller.

Wellbrock ended the afternoon with a double-double of 16 kills and 13 digs. Jones added 13 kills along with two solo blocks and three block assists. Nash chipped in with 11 kills. Newton once again had a double-double with 47 assists and 11 digs. Ukestad led all players in the match with 31 digs, while Eckhoff had 17 digs and four aces.