SAINT PAUL, Minn. - The University of Minnesota Morris volleyball team took two losses on Friday in their first matches of the season and the first day of the Saint Paul Tournament. The Cougars started their play for the day against the University of Dubuque, managing to take the third set before losing to the Spartans 4-1. Minnesota Morris wrapped up the day with a loss to St. Norbert College in a 3-0 match-up. 

Cougar Volleyball starts out the season 0-2 with a chance to play again tomorrow (Aug. 31) at 9 a.m. on the second day of the Saint Paul Tournament. 

Dubuque 3, Minnesota Morris 1
(26-24, 25-19, 25-19, 25-19)

The Minnesota Morris Cougars took one set off the Dubuque Spartans in a heated match of back-and-forth scoring.

Minnesota Morris broke open the scoring for the match with a kill from Lacie O'Leary to begin the first set. The Cougars trailed the Spartans for the rest of the set, keeping the score tight but being unable to gain the lead. After a three point deficit at 23-20, the Cougars battled their way back to being tied with kills from Lauran Wellbrock and O'Leary as well as a service ace from Ava Brunn. With a tied score of 24-24, the Cougars lost the last two points to end the set.

The Cougars took the second set by storm, opening the scoring and leading by as many as four points at the beginning of the set. The Spartans gained back the lead after a four point run put them up 13-11. The remainder of the set was back and forth, with kills from Mary Cate Ziembiec and O'Leary and a block from Tori Scheler and O'Leary not being enough to stop the Spartan offense. Errors from the Cougar offense allowed Dubuque to take the second set with a six point lead.

The third set began the same, with Minnesota Morris starting out the scoring. The Cougars ran away with the set at 13-13, going on a four point scoring run led by Madeline Monaco and Macey Bosard. Dubuque closed the gap at 19-18 before the Cougars went on a second scoring run, earning five points to solidify their lead. Ziembiec and O'Leary kills led the charge with sets from Clara Holden and Sydney Petersen respectively. The set ended with a block from Scheler and O'Leary, giving the Cougars their first and only set of the day.

The fourth set of this match saw a dominant Dubuque offense, but attack errors from the Spartans and kills by the Cougars kept the match close. Led by Laura Wellbrock and O'Leary with assists from Petersen, Minnesota Morris matched the Spartans for most of the set, managing to get up by two at multiple points. A scoring run that put the Cougars up in the middle of the set, 16-14, was answered by the Spartans with a five point run of their own. Attack and service errors from Dubuque kept the score close, but the Cougars were unable to stop the Spartans effectively, resulting in a 25-19 loss in the fourth set. 

O'Leary threw down 13 kills to lead the team, followed by Ziembiec and Wellbrock with ten and nine respectively. Melanie Monaco served up two aces on the day. Madeline Monaco, O'Leary, and Scheler all came away from the match with five blocks apiece. Petersen led the team with nineteen assists, over double from the next highest Cougar player. Wellbrock and Brunn tied for digs with an impressive twenty-two each.

St. Norbert 3, Minnesota Morris 0
(25-23, 25-20, 25-14)

The Cougars started off strong in this match against St. Norbert, before falling in the third set 25-14.

Scoring in the first set was off and on for Minnesota Morris, with the Green Knights leading the scoring by as many as five. The longest run for Minnesota Morris came at 21-18 to bring the Cougars back to a 21-21 tie with the Green Knights. The run led off with a kill from Madeline Monaco off a set from Holden. Kills from Wellbrock and Ziembiec assisted by Petersen followed, as well as a solo kill from Ziembiec. The Cougars were unable to gain the lead, but did steal two more points from the St. Norbert before the end of the set.

Once again trailing to begin the second set, the Cougars struggled against the tough Green Knights offense. Unable to string together more than two points at a time for most of the set, Minnesota Morris still managed to keep the game close. A three point scoring run with a kill from Madeline Monaco put the Cougars back into striking range at 23-20, but a service error and a kill gave the Spartans the two points needed to secure the set. 

Multiple kills from Ziembiec and Wellbrock was not enough to keep Minnesota Morris in the third set of the match. The Cougars stayed with the Green Knights at the beginning of the set, but a six point scoring run from St. Norbert ended by a kill from Wellbrock off an assist from Petersen widened the gap too much for the Cougars. The run put St. Norbert nine points ahead of the Cougars and solidified the 25-14 win for the Green Knights. 

Petersen led the Cougars in assists with seventeen, paving the way for Ziembiec and Wellbrock to pick up nine and six kills respectively. Brunn served two aces in the match and led both teams with fifteen digs.