SUPERIOR, Wis. - For the fourth consecutive year, the University of Minnesota Morris Cougars faced the University of Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets in the semifinal match up of the conference tournament. For the third year in a row, the Yellowjackets prevailed over the Cougars for a 3-1 victory. 

The Cougars came out firing in the first set, kicking off the scoring with a three point run. Sydney Petersen served up an ace right out of the gate, and Lacie O'Leary threw down a kill to finish the run. UW-Superior was quick to respond, and the two teams traded points for a while. The first true lead for either team came with a five point scoring run in favor of the Yellowjackets. Trailing 15-20, Laura Wellbrock served an ace to close the gap. The Cougars countered UW-Superior's attempts to put the set away with a kill from Anna Molstad followed by a block from Molstad and Allison Dornseif. A service ace from Mary Cate Ziembiec kept the score close at 20-23, but two kills from Wellbrock were not enough to stop the Yellowjackets from taking the set 25-22. 

UW-Superior jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the second set of the matchup which was put to an end by a kill and service ace from O'Leary. The Cougars continued to trail in the set, unable to find momentum on offense. Kills from Ziembiec and O'Leary stopped the Yellowjacket's scoring runs but Minnesota Morris was down 10-20 despite the effort. The offense started to flow for the Cougars as the set went on but a three point scoring run, which featured a block from Braxtyn Meyer and Ziembiec, could not close the gap and UW-Superior closed out the second set 25-15. 

It was the Cougars who led the scoring in the third set, finding their flow on offense and getting up 10-4 on the Yellowjackets. O'Leary kicked off the scoring for Minnesota Morris, and kills to gain the lead came from Ziembiec, Wellbrock, and Madeline Monaco. The Cougars continued to hold on to their lead, not allowing UW-Superior to find more than a point at a time. The first Yellowjacket run was quickly put to a stop with a clutch block from Madeline Monaco and Molstad to give the Cougars a 20-14 lead. Ziembiec threw down three strong kills and Wellbrock tacked on one more to wrap up the third set with a 25-18 Minnesota Morris lead. 

As with previous sets, the Cougars were the first to break open the scoring, taking a brief 3-0 lead over the home team. UW-Superior launched a six point scoring run to take the lead but Minnesota Morris was quick to respond with kills from O'Leary and Wellbrock to tie up the score 6-6. From there, the Cougar's scoring was few and far between as the Yellowjackets secured their match victory with a 25-15 win in the fourth set. 

O'Leary led the Cougar offense in kills, totaling up fifteen on the day. Petersen was a lucrative part of both the Minnesota Morris offense with 29 set assists and twenty digs in the match. Wellbrock, Ziembiec, and O'Leary all earned two service aces. Madeline Monaco and Anna Molstad went in on two blocks apiece for the defense.