For the fourth straight tournament day and the second consecutive Saturday, the Yellowjacket volleyball team won its first match of the day but were unable to gain a sweep for the day. This time it was day two of the Macalester Invitational in St. Paul, Minn. The Yellowjackets opened the day with a win over Grinnell College before dropping their second match of the day to Carleton College.
Yellowjackets 3, Grinnell 1
Against Grinnell, the Yellowjackets dropped the first set of the match before closing out the final three to pick up the win by scores of 17-25, 25-19, 25-21 and 25-17.
Picking up where she left off on Friday, Kitty Tynen (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater) (Stillwater, Minn.) paced the Yellowjacket offense with 12 kills, followed closely by Nikki Gosson (Mankato, Minn./Mankato East) (Mankato, Minn.) who had 11. Rachel Langer (Ellsworth, Wis./Ellsworth) (Ellsworth, Wis.) and Salann Gilbert (Solon Springs, Wis./Solon Springs) (Solon Springs, Wis.) had ten kills apiece as the Yellowjackets, who had their highest attack percentage since opening weekend at .297.
The freshman setting combo of Keely Deadrick (Esko, Minn./Esko) (Esko, Minn.) and Emily Cole (Grantsburg, Wis./Grantsburg) (Grantsburg, Wis.) had 26 and 20 set assists respectively.
Farrah Wirtz (Esko, Minn./Esko) (Esko, Minn.) had 22 digs to lead the Yellowjackets, while Gosson had 15 digs and two blocks to lead the Yellowjackets defensively.
Carleton 3, Yellowjackets 1
Saturday's second match had the Yellowjackets pitted against Carleton College, and the Knights took it to the Yellowjackets, jumping out early and winning the close first set 25-23. The Yellowjackets came right back and took the second set 25-20 before dropping the final two sets 19-25 and 22-25.
Gilbert, who enjoyed a big offensive weekend for the Yellowjackets, led the team with nine kills. Tynen and Gosson had eight kills apiece. Deadrick and Cole combined for 39 of the 40 set assists the Yellowjackets had in the match, with 23 and 16 respectively.
Wirtz again was the defensive leader, coming up with 21 digs. Erin Booth (Baldwin, Wis./Baldwin-Woodville) (Baldwin, Wis.) had 15 digs. Gilbert had a team-high four blocks in the match.
The Yellowjackets (8-4, 0-0) will play on their home court for the first time in 2011 on Sunday, September 18 when they host Lakehead University out of Thunder Bay, Ontario beginning at 2:00 p.m. The match is an exhibition and admission for the event is free.
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