RIVER FALLS, Wis. - The University of Minnesota Morris Volleyball team took on the St. Olaf Oles in their first match of the Falcon Invite. The match lasted for 5 sets, with the Cougars eventually losing 2-3 (17-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-21, 13-15).

The Oles jumped out to an early lead in the first set, leading the Cougars by five points before a scoring run from Minnesota Morris brought the score to 10-7. Still trailing the Oles, the Cougars continued to battle but were not able to put together a scoring run that closed the gap. One final run from St. Olaf put the set away at 25-17 in favor of the Oles.

The Cougars began the second set trailing the Oles, but a scoring run from Minnesota Morris with kills from Laura Wellbrock, Mary Cate Ziembiec, and Anna Molstad brought the score back to within one. As the set went on, scoring was back and forth between the two teams. St. Olaf put together a scoring run that pushed their lead to 22-17 over the Cougars. Ziembiec's two kills with assists from Clara Holden were not enough to spark a Cougar rally, and the set retired at 25-19 in favor of the Oles.

Set three was equally matched for these two teams, before a string of attack errors by the Oles gave the Cougars a 17-11 lead. St. Olaf answered back and tied the score up at 21-21, but Macey Bosard helped to solidify the Cougar win with two kills at the end of the set. These two kills, combined with multiple kills from Ziembiec and Molstad throughout the set pushed the Cougars to a 25-22 victory over the Oles in the third set.

Minnesota Morris started the fourth set behind St. Olaf, before a kill from Wellbrock, assisted by Sydney Petersen, turned the tide for the Cougars. Closing the gap and eventually overtaking the Oles, the Cougars fought to a 22-20 lead. A clutch block by Tori Scheler held St. Olaf to 20 and allowed the Cougars to coast to a 25-21 final score on the set.

Tied up 2-2 in the match, both teams played competitively in the fifth set of the match. The Cougars held the lead in the beginning, led by Scheler and Petersen. The Oles commanded the lead from the Cougars and despite Minnesota Morris closing the gap several times, the Oles came away from the set with a hard-won 15-13 win.

Wellbrock and Ziembiec led the Cougars in both kills (12) and digs (14) on the day, tying in both statistical categories. Petersen earned 23 assists, as well as 3 aces against the Oles. Scheler held a commanding lead over the Cougar blocks with 7 on the day. 

The Cougars will take the floor again tomorrow (Sept. 7) morning in a match-up against the College of Saint Benedict.