Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - The University of Minnesota Morris volleyball team split the second day of the Macalester Invitational, leaving the tournament with a 2-1 record on the weekend.

The Cougars will play at home for the first time this season in the Morris Tri-Match on Sat. 21 at 11am and 3pm.

Macalester 3, Minnesota Morris 2
(13-25, 25-22, 13-25, 25-16, 5-15)

The Scots jumped out to an early lead in the first set, managing to get up 18-4 on the Cougars. Minnesota Morris' offense, led by attacks from Tori Scheler, Mary Cate Ziembiec, and Laura Wellbrock, battled to add some points on the board but were unsuccessful. The Cougars fell short on the set, losing with a final score of 13-25.

Coming from behind (14-17) in the second set, the Cougars tied up the set late at 20-20. Wellbrock, Ziembiec, Scheler and Lacie O'Leary assisted by Clara Holden, Sydney Petersen, Nicole Morton, and Ava Brunn secured the lead for the Cougars, inspiring two four-point runs and ending the set in a 25-22 win over the Scots. 

Set three started and ended slow for the Cougars in terms of scoring. The Scots' defense was dominant at the net, shutting down Minnesota Morris' attempt to get their offense going. The Scots came away from the set with a 25-13 lead over the Cougars, despite Minnesota Morris making multiple hustle plays in an attempt to even out the scoring.

Scoring started out back and forth between the two teams in the fourth set, before the Cougars went on a five point scoring run led by O'Leary and Ziembiec. Minnesota Morris took a 16-11 lead over the Scots, not looking back as the offense continued to slam down kill after kill on Macalester's side of the court. The dominant offense allowed the Cougars to finish the set with a 25-16 lead over the Scots.

The fifth set was where the Cougars started to struggle as Macalester jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the fifteen point set. After a timeout, Minnesota Morris managed to score their first point on a block from Scheler. Unfortunately, the Cougars were unable to put together any scoring runs on the set and fell to the Scots in a 15-5 final set. 

Wellbrock led the Cougar offense in kills with 15 on the match. Ziembiec dominated in aces and digs, notching 4 and 18 respectively. Petersen totaled 21 set assists for Minnesota Morris. Madeline Monaco led the Cougar defense with 3 blocks. 

Minnesota Morris 3, Lewis & Clark 0
(25-17, 25-20, 25-21)

Minnesota Morris came out fired up in the first set of the match, taking the lead early and keeping their foot on the gas. The Cougars got up by eight off a four point scoring run led by Macey Bosard and Holden. Minnesota Morris continued to total up their points, widening the gap between them and the Pioneers. After putting together a few great scoring runs, Minnesota Morris finished the set up 25-17 on Lewis & Clark.

A six point scoring run put another early lead on the board for the Cougars, giving them an 11-5 lead over the Pioneers. Wellbrock and Ziembiec hammered the Lewis & Clark defense assisted by Allison Dornseif and Melanie Monaco respectively. A second scoring run extended the Minnesota Morris lead to 19-11 with kills from Wellbrock and Braxtyn Meyer. The Pioneers managed to put together a four point scoring run that closed the gap to 20-24 in favor of the Cougars, but a service error gave the final point to Minnesota Morris (25-20) to end the set. 

The third and final set of play saw the Cougars up five right off the bat due to errors from the Pioneers. The first kills from Minnesota Morris came from Ella Johnson and Bosard, both assisted by Petersen, to bring the score to 7-1. The Pioneers battled their way back into the game, closing the scoring gap and taking the lead at 14-12. The Cougars answered with a scoring run by Bosard and Johnson once again assisted by Petersen. Up 16-14, Minnesota Morris continued to battle Lewis & Clark, maintaining their lead and putting the set away at 25-21 to take the match 3-0. 

Wellbrock led the Cougars in kills (11), aces (4), and digs (13) on the match. Melanie Monaco also added four digs for Minnesota Morris. Petersen totaled up 21 set assists for the Cougars.