ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris volleyball team concluded its opening weekend of play on Saturday with a pair of matches against Macalester College and Luther College. The Scots took the opening match of the day on their home court, sweeping the Cougars in three sets. Later on, Minnesota Morris took the final two sets from Luther to earn a four-set victory over the Norse. The split leaves the Cougars at 2-1 overall early on in their 2022 season.

At the conclusion of Saturday's action, Maggie Jones was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Minnesota Morris makes its home debut on Wednesday night, hosting No. 20 Bethel University at 7 p.m.

Macalester 3, Minnesota Morris 0
(18-25, 24-26, 18-25)
Macalester rallied to win the first set, held on for a tight win in the second, and then cruised to victory in the third to get the victory over the Cougars in the Saturday morning match.

Laura Wellbrock had a kill and an ace as part of a 4-0 start to the match for Minnesota Morris, but Macalester later scored seven straight points to turn a 7-5 deficit into a 12-7 lead. The Cougars twice pulled within a point after that, but were not able to tie the Scots the rest of the way.

Big momentum swings happened throughout the second set, with Macalester going on top by as much as five, 17-12, before the Cougars began to rally. A kill from Sydney Petersen and two consecutive Scot attack errors knotted the score at 22-22 and UMN Morris actually earned a set point at 24-23 following consecutive attack errors from Macalester's Eliza King. The Scots turned things around after that, reeling off three straight to take the set and the 2-0 lead. 

Stephanie Geber and Grace Watkins combined for five straight Macalester kills to start the third set and the Scots never trailed in the set. Minnesota Morris clawed back into it, but a pair of late three-point spurts from the Scots grew the lead out to 24-16 and closed it out after weathering a pair of kills from Petersen and Lydia Nash.

Jones led the way offensively and defensively for the Cougars, finishing with seven kills and five blocks (two solo). Wellbrock had six kills and 12 digs. Nash and Madeline Monaco each contributed five kills, while McKenzie Newton had 25 assists and eight digs.

Minnesota Morris 3, Luther 1
(25-15, 21-25, 25-19, 25-21)
The Cougars roared out of the gates, making a statement to Luther by winning 14 of the first 15 points of the first set. The Norse only got within single-digits by winning three late points to make it 24-15, but a Newton kill ended it and gave Minnesota Morris the quick 1-0 lead in the match.

Though UMN Morris took a 9-3 edge quickly in the second set, Luther stuck with it and were eventually able to knot the match up at 1-1. A kill from Wellbrock tied the score at 19-19, but the Norse took over from there and scored the final three points of the set to take the 25-21 victory.

The third set was shaping up to be a battle to the finish until Minnesota Morris had two runs late in the set that helped put Luther away. Leading 16-14, Monaco had an ace and a kill as part of a four-point rally to take a 20-14 lead. With the score 20-17, Jones had two kills in quick succession to help make it a 23-17 score and the Cougars closed it out from there.

Like the third set, the fourth set was a battle and appeared to be heading to a tight finish until Minnesota Morris made some critical plays late to seal it. Leading by a score of 22-21, Sydney Eckhoff had a kill and followed it with an ace to give the Cougars a match point. Monaco finished it off with her 11th kill of the afternoon (tied for the match high) to clinch the victory.

Monaco and Jones each tallied 11 kills in the match, with Eckhoff and Nash each adding nine. Wellbrock had eight and Newton finished with five. Alyssa Ukestad paced the defensive effort with 24 digs, while Newton added a double-double with 36 assists and 14 digs.