ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris volleyball team showed its resolve on Wednesday night with a thrilling 3-2 (25-16, 26-24, 26-28, 16-25, 16-14) victory at Bethel University. The Cougars were denied on five match points before a Maggie Jones block secured the win on their sixth opportunity to close out the Royals. UMN Morris improves to 3-2 on the season.

Opening the first set with four straight points and later scoring seven in a row with Tori Scheler providing three kills in succession, Minnesota Morris went wire-to-wire in the first set to take a 1-0 lead.

Consecutive aces from Sydney Eckhoff in the second set staked Minnesota Morris to a 17-10 advantage, but Bethel was able to come back and tie the set at 22-22. With the score still knotted at 24-24, an attack error gave the Cougars a set point and Jones finished it with a kill to push the UMN Morris lead to 2-0 on the night.

Ahead most of the way throughout the third set, Minnesota Morris saw a 20-15 lead dissipate in the late stages of the set. Despite the Bethel comeback, the Cougars still had match points at 24-23 and against at 26-25 before the Royals reeled off three straight to keep the match going.

Riding that surge of momentum into the fourth set, Bethel took a 5-4 lead in the fourth set and never trailed again. A Minnesota Morris offense that had at least 12 kills in each of the first three sets managed only eight and compiled a -.028 hitting percentage to aid the cause for the Royals. 

With the crowd fully behind Bethel to start the fifth set, Minnesota Morris went behind, 2-0, but then scored nine of the next 10 points to take a 9-3 lead. While the Cougars weren't getting much going offensively, the defense was making the Royals work. Bethel committed 10 attack errors in the final set, including three that came as the result of blocks from the Cougars. While that six-point lead disappeared and Bethel fought off three match points to tie the score at 14-14, Eckhoff put Minnesota Morris ahead once again at 15-14 and Jones finished off a rally and clinched the win with a solo block on another match point.

Jones finished the night with 12 kills along with two solo blocks and three block assists. Lydia Nash and Anna Molstad each added 11 kills. McKenzie Newton had a great all-around night with seven kills, 39 assists, and eight digs. Laura Wellbrock collected nine kills, four aces, and 14 digs. The defensive leader from the back line was Ava Brunn with 30 digs.

Going back into tournament play this weekend, Minnesota Morris travels to Macalester College in St. Paul for three matches starting on Friday with a 4 p.m. match against Carleton College.