Yellowjackets fall to Eagles

Jessica Zimmerman gets ready for the spike.

Box Score

La Crosse 3, Yellowjackets 1

On Friday night, the Yellowjacket volleyball team celebrated the careers of their five seniors, who were playing their second-to-last home match at Mertz Mortorelli Gym. And after a short program prior to the match to recognize the quintet, the Yellowjackets got down to business, looking to extend their winning streak to six games with a win over WIAC rival UW-La Crosse.

The Eagles, however, had other ideas.

The Yellowjackets took the first game, but La Crosse came roaring back and won the next three, taking the match by a 3-1 score. The loss snaps a five-game winning streak for the Yellowjackets.

Neither team was able to grab any momentum in the first game, as the teams traded points throughout. The Yellowjackets opened up a two-point lead several times, but were never able to build on the lead and time and again the Eagles came back. Kitty Tynen (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater) had a kill that gave the Yellowjackets a 15-13 lead, but La Crosse won six of the next seven points to open up a three-point lead of their own. With the Yellowjackets down 22-20, Jessica Zimmerman (Monticello, Minn./Monticello) had a kill to pull them to within one, then served the team into the lead at 23-22. La Crosse again came back and won the next two points to go up by one and put the Yellowjackets on the brink. Following a timeout, the Yellowjackets won three straight, capped off by another Tynen kill, to take the opening game 26-24.

The second game was the same as the first in the early going, with the teams again trading points. The Yellowjackets were the first team to six points and forged a lead to 9-8. Eventually the teams were deadlocked at 11-11 and then the Eagles took over. La Crosse went on an 8-0 run to blow the game open. The Yellowjackets fought back to within four points at 21-17 but couldn't get any closer and the Eagles evened the match.

La Crosse carried the momentum into the third game, winning the first three points and never giving up the lead. Only once in the game were the Yellowjackets able to win more than two points in a row, bringing home three straight to pull to within three at 19-16. La Crosse pulled away again, but the Yellowjackets didn't wilt, and the two-headed machine of Tynen and Zimmerman pulled the Yellowjackets back to within a point late, but the Eagles were able to outlast the Yellowjackets, taking the third game 25-23 and grabbing a 2-1 lead in the match.

Game four was another tight game, as the score stayed close early. A Tynen kill gave them their first lead at 4-3, and later a La Crosse error gave the Yellowajckets an 8-7 lead. La Crosse then won five in a row to pull away. The 9-3 run eventually gave the Eagles a 17-11 lead, but the Yellowjackets answered. Zimmerman served the Yellowjackets to four straight points bring them back to withing a point at 17-16. That's as close as the Yellowjackets would get, however, and the Eagles closed out the game 25-21 and the match 3-1.

Tynen had another strong outing for the Yellowjackets, finishing the match with 16 kills and 19 digs. Zimmerman added 10 kills and nine digs. Tynen's .191 attack percentage was the tops on the team in the match. The Yellowjackets collectively had an attack percentage of .107. Keely Deadrick (Esko, Minn./Esko) had 43 assists. Tynen and Jordan Olson (Cohasset, Minn./Grand Rapids) each had a pair of service aces.

After Tynen's team high in digs, Lauren Peterson (Deer River, Minn./Deer River) added 16 and Chelsey Walerius (New Prague, Minn./Tri-City United) had 12. Tynen had the only solo block of the match for the Yellowjackets, while Brooke Vonasek (East Grand Forks, Minn./East Grand Forks) had three block assists.

The Yellowjackets (14-6, 1-4 WIAC) will close out the home portion of their schedule on Saturday, when they play host to UW-Platteville at Mertz Mortorelli Gym. The start time for the game, which is the team's annual "Parents Day," is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.

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