ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris volleyball team lost to the University of Northwestern, 3-0 (15-25, 16-25, 11-25), on Friday night. The loss drops the Cougars to 8-12 (5-4 UMAC) on the season.

The first set opened with the teams trading points up to 3-3. From there, Northwestern scored 12 of the next 13 points to open up a 15-4 advantage. The Cougars scored four straight to get within 21-14, but it was too little, too late. Northwestern finished the set off by taking four of the final five points for a 1-0 lead on the night.

Northwestern used the same formula in the second set, going on an early run to set the tone. Up 3-2, the Eagles took eight of the next nine points to extend out to an 11-3 edge. Again Minnesota Morris would score four straight in the late stages, this time getting the deficit to 20-13 before the Eagles put things away.

Three straight points from the Cougars early in the third set that included kills from McKenzie Newton and Brooke Christensen tied the score at 6-6. Northwestern then zoomed ahead, 16-8, and finished the match off by scoring eight of the final nine points to complete the sweep.

Maggie Jones had six kills and a .385 hitting percentage to lead the Minnesota Morris offense on the night. Lydia Nash added five kills and Laura Wellbrock had four. Newton finished with 16 assists and seven digs. Wellbrock led the defensive effort with nine digs while Alyssa Ukestad added eight.

Minnesota Morris wraps up the weekend with a 1 p.m. match tomorrow at North Central University.