ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris volleyball team took one of two on Saturday in its final day of non-conference matches at the College of Saint Benedict Quad. The Cougars started the afternoon with a 3-2 victory over Concordia College (Minn.) before falling to the hosts, 3-0, to wrap up the evening. Minnesota Morris heads back into UMAC action this week with a 14-6 overall record.

First up for the Cougars as they play the second half of their UMAC schedule is a trip to Crown College on Wednesday night for a 7 p.m. match.

Minnesota Morris 3, Concordia (Moorhead) 2
(25-11, 21-25, 26-28, 25-17, 15-7)
Minnesota Morris started and finished with its best, rolling to a first-set victory and then burying the Cobbers in the fifth set to close out the win. 

Tied at 2-2 in the opening set, Minnesota Morris scored six in a row to build a commanding lead. The Cougars later had runs of five points and four points to grow the lead into double-digits before closing out the set with kills from Tori Scheler and Laura Wellbrock. 

Minnesota Morris led by as many as five midway through the second set, but a stretch that saw Concordia score 10 of 13 points brought the Cobbers back into it. With the score knotted at 20-20, the Cobbers finished the set off by notching five of the final six points and tying the match at a set apiece.

After opening the third set with a 7-1 lead, Minnesota Morris saw its advantage disappear quickly. Even as the set tightened up, the Cougars had a chance take a 2-1 lead but Concordia rose to the occasion and fended off four set points to take the 28-26 victory.

With their backs to the walls, the Cougars roared out to a 6-0 lead in the fourth set and went up by double-digits at 14-4 on an Ava Brunn ace. The Cobbers made a run at Minnesota Morris and got within three, but the Cougars responded by scoring seven of the next eight points to earn a set point at 24-15. Two points later, a Concordia service error closed it out and took the match to a deciding fifth set.

Minnesota Morris dominated the fifth set, hitting .367 as a team with 11 kills and no errors. In rolling out to a 9-2 lead, the Cougars allowed Concordia to score only via a pair of service errors. The Cobbers didn't give up without a fight, rallying to within 10-7. From there, Wellbrock reestablished order with two kills, followed by a block from Madeline Monaco and Anna Molstad. The final two kills belonged to Molstad to finish off the 15-7 win.

Lydia Nash led all players in the match with 13 kills. Wellbrock and Scheler added 11 kills each, while Molstad had eight and a .615 hitting percentage. McKenzie Newton notched a double-double of 37 assists and 18 digs. Brunn totaled 37 digs in the match, while Wellbrock added 13 and Sydney Eckhoff pitched in with 12.

Saint Benedict 3, Minnesota Morris 0
(18-25, 16-25, 21-25)
Coming off the five-setter, Minnesota Morris couldn't keep up with a fresher Saint Benedict squad in a three-set loss. 

The Bennies opened the first set with three straight points prior to a block from Scheler and Molstad that got the Cougars on the board. A Lacie O'Leary kill brought the Cougars within a point at 7-6, but Saint Benedict would stay in front the whole way, going up by as many as nine before notching the seven-point victory to go up, 1-0.

A six-point spurt from Saint Benedict in the second set gave the home team an 8-1 lead. From there, Minnesota Morris could only manage to get within five before the Bennies closed it out to go up two sets.

A block from Wellbrock and Scheler plus a Scheler kill early in the third set gave Minnesota Morris a 6-4 edge. Saint Benedict would go up by four in the middle of the set before a stretch saw the Cougars score five of six points and tie the set at 19-19 on a Monaco ace. After a timeout, a service error gave the ball back to Saint Benedict and they finished things off by scoring six of the last eight to lock up the 25-21 victory.

Wellbrock led Minnesota Morris with seven kills in the match, while Molstad added five. Newton had 10 assists. Brunn tied for the match-high with 20 digs, while both Eckhoff and Mary Cate Ziembiec had 11.