Yellowjackets swept by Pointers

Kitty Tynen

Box Score

Stevens Point 3, Yellowjackets 0

After more than a week off the court, the Yellowjacket volleyball team returned to action, hitting the road for their final WIAC matches of the season. On Friday night they were at Berg Gymnasium in Stevens Point to take on the Pointers. Both teams were playing for something, the Yellowjackets for their playoff lives and the Pointers for the top seed in the conference.

This time it was the Pointers who found what they were looking for, sweeping their way past the Yellowjackets and sewing up first place in the WIAC with a 3-0 win.

The loss assures that the Yellowjackets will be on the outside looking in when the WIAC post-season gets underway in November.

In the first game the teams went back and forth early before the Yellowjackets gained the upper hand and opened up an 11-8 lead. The Pointers rallied with five straight points to surge ahead. They would win nine of the next 13 points to take a commanding 22-15 lead. After a Pointer service error, Chelsey Walerius (New Prague, Minn./Tri-City United) served the Yellowjackets to three straight points to close the gap. The hole was too deep to dig out of, however, and the Pointers earned the win in the opening game by a 25-19 score.

The second set was equally as tight as the first, with the teams again going back and forth in the early going. The Pointers, up 8-7, rattled off four points in a row to grab a five-point lead. That's when the Yellowjackets began to rally. A kill by Jessica Dvergsten (Greenbush, Minn./Greenbush-Middle River) brought service back to the Yellowjackets, and Keely Deadrick (Esko, Minn./Esko) served a pair of points to make it a two-point deficit. After the Pointers scored, Kitty Tynen (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater) had a kill and served another point to close to within one. Down 16-14 a few minutes later, a Brooke Vonasek (East Grand Forks, Minn./East Grand Forks) kill again closed the gap to one. Jessica Zimmerman (Monticello, Minn./Monticello) then served the Yellowjackets into the lead for the first time in the game. The score was tied at 18 and again at 20 before the Pointers went on another run, winning five of the final seven points to win the game 25-22.

It looked like the Yellowjackets were going to claw their way back into the match in the third set, as they jumped out to an early 6-2 lead on kills from Tynen and Zimmerman as well as three service points from Walerius. The lead reached five at 10-5 following yet another Tynen kill, but that's when the Pointers turned the tables. A 7-2 run quickly tied the game at 12-12, but the Yellowjackets regained the lead on a combo block from Vonasek and Vicki Vinokur (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove). With the Yellowjackets leading 15-13 the Pointers again went on a run to move into the lead 18-15. Later, a Zimmerman kill tied the score again at 21-21, but that was as close as the Yellowjackets would get and the Pointers closed out the set and the match.

The Pointers finished the match with 52 kills compared to 36 for the Yellowjackets. Attack percentage also favored the Pointers, .393 to .173. Defensively the Pointers had seven blocks compared to four for the Yellowjackets.

Tynen led the Yellowjackets with another strong outing, finishing with 13 kills and a .273 attack percentage. Vonasek and Zimmerman each added seven kills. Deadrick had all 33 assists to pace the offense.

On defense Lauren Peterson (Deer River, Minn./Deer River) finished with a team-high 11 digs, while Tynen was right behind her with 10. Dvergsten, Vonasek, and Vinokur each had two block assists.

The Yellowjackets (16-11, 1-6 WIAC) will close out the WIAC portion of their 2013 schedule when they play at UW-Whitewater on Saturday. Game time is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.

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