University of Minnesota Morris Athletics

MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris volleyball team moves to 5-1 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play after defeating Crown College, 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-15), Wednesday evening in Morris, Minn.
 
The Cougars move to 10-7 overall and 5-1 in the UMAC, while the Polars drop to 6-8 overall and 2-4 in the conference.
 
Crown scored the opening three points of the match. Natalie Wahl ended the rally with the first Cougar kill, and Tori Scheler and Oliviah Lorber followed with a block. Braxtyn Meyer recorded a kill to start a five-point rally, with Ella Johnson adding a kill. UMM pushed the lead to five, with Wahl scoring three points in a span of four. Sella Fleming recorded her first kill to keep the Cougars in front, with Wahl and Scheler adding a block soon after. Johnson ended the set with a kill to give Minnesota Morris a 25-22 win.
 
The Cougars got out to an early lead, with Wahl scoring off the serve to make the score 5-2. Fleming set up Scheler to keep the advantage at three. Minnesota Morris went on a 6-1 run, with Lorber, Johnson, Wahl, and Meyer adding kills, while Clara Holden recorded an ace. Johnson extended the lead to eight, but the Polars started to chip away, scoring four in a row. UMM answered back with a four-point run of its own, with Fleming, Johnson, and Lorber converting attacks. Fleming and Meyer scored down the final stretch to give the Cougars a 25-16 set-two win.
 
Wahl started the third set with a kill. Lorber and Meyer scored early to give the Cougars the lead back. A service error gave Holden the next serve, and she capitalized with a service ace. Midway through the set, a three-point Cougar run fueled by kills from Meyer and Fleming and an ace from Johnson pushed the lead to three. Soon after, UMM went on a five-point run, with Scheler, Wahl, and Johnson recording blocks, while Wahl added a pair of aces. Minnesota Morris won the set after scoring four of the next five points, with a kill from Lorber, an ace from Holden, and a block from Meyer and Johanna Barkey giving the Cougars the 25-15 win.
 
The Cougars finished the match hitting .230, with their best set coming in the second as the team hit .250. Wahl led the attack with 10 kills. Johnson was second on the team with seven, while Meyer and Lorber added six each. Fleming assisted on 25 points. UMM tallied seven aces, with Wahl and Holden recording three each.
 
Defensively, Fleming had a team-high 15 digs. Rachel Bopp followed with 13. Johnson and Holden also reached double digits with 11 and 10, respectively. UMM tallied eight blocks, with Meyer and Scheler pacing the team with four each.
 
The Cougars have a bit of a break, with their next match on Oct. 16 at the University of Wisconsin-Superior at 7 p.m.