The Yellowjacket volleyball team took to the road to play in their final tournament of the regular season, competing in an event hosted by WIAC rival UW-La Crosse. And they had to do it coming off of one of their toughest outings of the season, a tough 3-0 defeat at home at the hands of UW-Stout.
A night like Wednesday, where little went right, is one of those matches that could send a team reeling for the remainder of the season, or it can go the other way and galvanize a team, propelling them on a long run. Hope is that the latter is the direction the Yellowjackets will travel, and this weekend may have served as the starting point of such a run.
After a Friday split, the Yellowjackets swept their matches on Saturday, giving them a 3-1 record on the weekend and a second place finish in the 2011 UW-La Crosse Invitational.
Yellowjackets 3, Buena Vista 1
The Yellowjackets were able to snap a three-match losing skid with a straight set victory over Buena Vista University, a team they have defeated twice in the 2011 season. Where on Wednesday the Yellowjackets had an attack percentage near eight percent, they bounced in their first match on Friday, attacking at nearly 30 percent.
The first set was a tight affair, going back and forth and needing extra time to be decided. Buena Vista was ultimately able to gain the two-point advantage and claimed the first set 28-26. The Yellowjackets came roaring back, however, sweeping the final three sets, which also were tight. The second set, which the Yellowjackets won 25-21, was the only one that didn't need overtime to be decided. The Yellowjackets won the final two sets by scores of 26-24 and 28-26.
The Yellowjackets had a season-best 65 kills in the match, with five players reaching double figures. Rachel Langer (Ellsworth, Wis./Ellsworth) (Ellsworth, Wis.) led the team with 15, while Kitty Tynen (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater) (Stillwater, Minn.), Nikki Gosson (Mankato, Minn./Mankato East) (Mankato, Minn.) and Salann Gilbert (Solon Springs, Wis./Solon Springs) (Solon Springs, Wis.) all had 12 apiece. Keely Deadrick (Esko, Minn./Esko) (Esko, Minn.) ended the match with 51 set assists, a season-high.
Defensively the Yellowjackets had 71 digs, compared to just 50 for Buena Vista. Tynen had 19 digs to lead the team, followed by Blayke Lundberg (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East) (Duluth, Minn.) and Erin Booth (Baldwin, Wis./Baldwin-Woodville) (Baldwin, Wis.) who had 14 and 11 respectively. Buena Vista did outblock the Yellowjackets by an 8-5 margin.
Lacie Drennan had a big day for Buena Vista, leading the team with 20 kills and 14 digs. Courtney Van Haaften had 46 assists.
Central 3, Yellowjackets 1
In the second match on Friday, the Yellowjackets found themselves squaring off with Central College out of Pella, Iowa. The Dutch, who would go on to win the tournament, were too much for the Yellowjackets, who fell in four sets by scores of 17-25, 20-25, 25-23, 18-25.
The Dutch controlled play in much of the match, with the Yellowjackets only really threatening them in the third set, which the Yellowjackets ultimately won.
Langer again paced the offense, finishing Friday with 29 kills after picking up 14 against Central. Langer was also the only Yellowjacket with an attack percentage above .300. The team attack percentage was .169. Gosson added ten kills as she and Langer combined for 24 of the Yellowjackets' 44 kills. Deadrick 37 assists and Emily Kadlec (Mora, Minn./Mora) (Mora, Minn.) and Booth each added a pair of service aces. Deadrick also led the Yellowjackets with 15 digs.
Yellowjackets 3, La Crosse 0
The first match of Saturday saw the Yellowjackets pitted up against tournament host UW-La Crosse. The match could be a significant pre-cursor as well, as the teams are scheduled to meet again on October 29 in Superior in the final regular season match of 2011. The match also could be one carrying playoff implications for one or both teams. Saturday's match, however, didn't have any effect on the conference standings. Regardless, the Yellowjackets came out firing and rolled to a straight-set win over the Eagles by scores of 25-17, 25-23 and 25-19.
Errors definitely played a role in the result, as La Crosse committed 19 attack errors, compared to only 14 for the Yellowjackets. They also had four service errors, while the Yellowjackets had just one.
Gosson and Tynen had 11 kills apiece to lead the offense. Deadrick again led the way with 30 assists. She was also key on defense with a team-best ten digs.
The Yellowjackets had an advantage 7-2 advantage in blocks, with Langer providing the biggest numbers, posting two solo blocks and two block assists.
Kayla Ashland had 12 kills to lead La Crosse, who got 28 assists from Liz Schlobohm and 11 digs from Meghan Ashwill.
Yellowjackets 3, Loras 1
The final match of the weekend saw the Yellowjackets taking on Loras College out of Dubuque, Iowa, and the Yellowjackets put on one of their best defensive displays of the season. It's a good thing, but it was another tight match. The Yellowjackets took the first set 25-20 and the second to jump to a 2-0 lead, but it wasn't easy, as they scraped by at 28-26. Loras would bounce back and take the third set 27-25 before the Yellowjackets put the hammer down with a convincing 25-15 win in the fourth set, sealing the match.
Jessica Zimmerman (Monticello, Minn./Monticello) (Monticello, Minn.) led the Yellowjackets with 14 kills. Gilbert had ten kills and a huge .417 attack percentage. As a team the Yellowjackets attacked at a percentage of .226. Langer, Gosson and Tynen also hit double figures in kills. Deadrick had 48 assists.
Defensively, the Yellowjackets had a season-high 105 digs, including 19 by Deadrick. Lundberg and Emily Cole (Grantsburg, Wis./Grantsburg) (Grantsburg, Wis.) had 15 apiece while Booth added 14. Langer finished the match with one solo block and four block assists, as the Yellowjackets had nine in the match.
Regan Riley and Kenzie Goedken had 13 kills each to lead Loras. Julie Rogers had 33 assists. Micaela Mertens had 35 digs, as Loras put up 111 in the match.
All-Tournament Team: Rachel Langer (Ellsworth, Wis./Ellsworth) had a great weekend for the Yellowjackets and was named to the all-tournament team. For the weekend Langer had 47 kills and an attack percentage of .286. She also had five solo blocks and nine block assists.
The Yellowjackets (15-15, 1-5 WIAC) have three regular season matches remaining, the first of which is Monday, October 24 when the Yellowjackets travel across the bridge to take on the College of St. Scholastica at the Reif Gymnasium beginning at 7:30 p.m.
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