WINONA, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris volleyball team narrowly fell 3-2 (25-17, 20-25, 20-25, 25-22, 15-17) to St. Mary's University in its opening match of the 2026 season Friday night in Winona, Minn.
The Cougars started their season by scoring the first point of the match, with
Ella Johnson being set up by
Clara Holden. It didn't take long for the first UMM block of the season, with
Bella Nelson holding strong at the net.
Braxtyn Meyer followed with a service ace. The early stages of the match were back and forth. UMN Morris gained some separation after a pair of kills from
Oliviah Lorber and two aces from
Rachel Bopp. Three errors by St. Mary's restored a four-point edge for the Cougars at 19-15. Minnesota Morris closed out the set by scoring five of the final six points, with kills from Lorber and
Natalie Wahl, to win 25-17.
The Cardinals got out to an early lead in set two, going up 7-1. Johnson started to chip away at the lead with three kills. Midway through the set, UMM cut the lead down to two after Wahl and Meyer scored on attacks and Holden scored off the serve.
Tori Scheler kicked off a four-point run to bring the Cougars within one at 19-18. The Cardinals would hold the lead and tie the match after winning set two, 25-20.
Nelson, Meyer, and Scheler scored early to keep set three close.
Sella Fleming gave the Cougars their first lead of the third set with a service ace. Back-to-back kills from Wahl, followed by an error by SMU, pushed the UMM lead to three. The Cardinals responded with a 9-2 run to take a four-point advantage. The lead continued to grow for St. Mary's after another string of four points. Minnesota Morris began to get back into the set after kills from Lorber and Scheler, cutting the deficit to three. The Cardinals would hold on down the stretch to win set three, 25-20.
The Cougars started the fourth set with a two-point edge from kills by Meyer and Wahl. The lead grew after a three-point rally fueled by points from Nelson and Scheler. Minnesota Morris would hold a slight lead for the first half of the set. The Cardinals would draw level at 13-13 and then again at 15-15. Wahl helped push the lead back to two, but a three-point SMU run gave the Cardinals their first lead. The Cougars regained control with the next three points, with Scheler and Wahl connecting on attacks. Minnesota Morris tied the match after a solo block by Scheler, taking set four, 25-22.
After dropping the first point of the final set, the Cougars took the next four points on kills from Nelson and Johnson and an ace from Wahl. More kills from Nelson and Johnson pushed the lead to 10-4. St. Mary's started to creep back in with a three-point run. Scheler ended the rally after being set up by Fleming. The next six points bounced back and forth, with UMM taking a 13-10 lead. The Cougars were one point away from the match after another Meyer kill, but the Cardinals finished the match on a 6-1 run, winning the final set 17-15.
The Cougars finished the match hitting .120, with set four being their best at .167. In her first match with UMM, Wahl led the team with 12 kills. Johnson also reached double figures with 11, while Meyer and Nelson each totaled nine. Fleming assisted on a match-high 34 kills. Minnesota Morris tallied eight service aces, with Bopp setting a career high with three.
Defensively, Johnson tallied 28 digs, with Bopp not far behind with 23. Wahl rounded out the top three with 12. The Cougars blocked nine attacks. Johnson and Meyer both had two solo blocks and one assisted block. Scheler also contributed three blocks, with two assisted and one solo.
The Cougars continue tournament play tomorrow (Saturday) with a pair of matches against the College of Saint Scholastica at 9 a.m. and Wisconsin Lutheran College at 1 p.m.
