Saturday was the second day of the 2011 Stinger Classic, and the Yellowjackets, who finished second in their tournament last year, were looking for a strong finish after going 1-1 on Friday. Unfortunately, a pair of tough MIAC opponents awaited the Yellowjackets, and they dropped both of their matches, finishing 1-3 on the weekend, which put them in fifth place.
Augsburg 3, Yellowjackets 0
Saturday's first match was a difficult one for the Yellowjackets, who came out flat and were swept in straight sets by Augsburg, 19-25, 20-25 and 19-25. They were never able to build any kind of momentum and the Auggies cruised.
Jessica Zimmerman (Monticello, Minn./Monticello) (Monticello, Minn.) led the Yellowjackets with eight kills, while Kitty Tynen (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater) (Stillwater, Minn.) had a team-high 32 attacks. Rachel Langer (Ellsworth, Wis./Ellsworth) (Ellsworth, Wis.) had a .429 attack percentage. The Yellowjackets as a team attacked at a percentage of .142. Keely Deadrick (Esko, Minn./Esko) (Esko, Minn.) had a team-leading 25 assists and two service aces.
Defensively, junior libero Farrah Wirtz (Esko, Minn.) had 17 digs, followed by Deadrick who had 14. The Yellowjackets had just two blocks, compared to Augsburg who registered nine.
Colleen Ourada had 12 kills and Emily McCourt had 36 set assists for the Auggies.
St. Catherine 3, Yellowjackets 1
Things improved in the second match of the day for the Yellowjackets, but again they just weren't able to sustain any momentum and St. Catherine took them down 3-1. Set scores were 23-25, 25-22, 18-25 and 19-25.
In the second match, it was Nikki Gosson (Mankato, Minn./Mankato East) (Mankato, Minn.) who paced the offense, leading the Yellowjackets with 12 kills and a .353 attack percentage. Emily Kadlec (Mora, Minn./Mora) (Mora, Minn.) was also key, finishing with 10 kills. The Yellowjackets had 43 kills in the match and had an attack percentage of ..183.
Deadrick again had a team-high in assists, finishing with 39. She also had 13 digs, second only to Wirtz who had 25. Langer and Gosson each had 1.5 blocks to lead the Yellowjackets.
Brittni Wangerin was a monster, leading St. Catherine with 15 kills and 24 digs.
All-Tournament Team: Zimmerman, a sophomore outside hitter, was the Yellowjackets' only representative on the all-tournament team. For the weekend, Zimmerman had 35 kills and a .324 attack percentage. On defense she had six digs and four block assists.
With the losses, the Yellowjackets (12-13, 1-4 WIAC) have fallen below the .500 mark for the first time on the year. They will look to snap their three-match losing skid on Wednesday, October 19 when they host UW-Stout. The match will begin at 7:00 p.m.
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