Yellowjackets split at Macalester Invite

Brooke Vonasek goes up for the spike.

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4

For the second season in a row the Yellowjackets swept their opening weekend of play and headed into week two with a perfect record. Winning three out of four at the Macalester Invitational would have not only matched 2012's start, but also given the Yellowjackets one of the best eight-game starts to a season in school history.

Unfortunately, a pair of MIAC opponents, Macalester and Carleton had other ideas, and the Yellowjackets went home with a split of the four matches on the weekend.

Macalester 3, Yellowjackets 1

In the opening match against the host Scots, the Yellowjackets took the early lead but a 9-3 run put the Scots ahead. The opening set stayed tight, with neither team grabbing more than a four-point lead. With the set tied 20-20, the Yellowjackets finally regained the lead on a Macalester attack error off of a Jessica Zimmerman (Monticello, Minn./Monticello) serve, but the Scots again came back quickly. With the set tied at 25-25, Macalester got the final two points and the win.

The Yellowjackets came back and took the second set by a 26-24 score. Once again the Yellowjackets took the early lead but were unable to pull away from the Scots. Trailing by three, the Yellowjackets picked up four straight points with Brooke Vonasek (East Grand Forks, Minn./East Grand Forks) serving to take the lead. Later with the scored tied at 14-14, Lauren Peterson (Deer River, Minn./Deer River) served three straight point and the Yellowjackets would never trail again and tied the match.

Macalester took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-21 win in the third set. The Scots took the lead early and never trailed, putting the Yellowjackets away with a 4-0 run late in the set. The momentum carried over into the fourth set as the Scots jumped out to a 6-0, but the Yellowjackets came roaring back to tie it up. Then with the score deadlocked at 9-9, Macalester went on a 4-0 run and closed out the match comfortably.

Zimmerman continued her strong play to start the season, finishing the opener with 13 kills while adding 11 digs on defense. Vonasek had 10 kills. Keely Deadrick (Esko, Minn./Esko) had a match-best 41 assists and also tossed in four service aces. Chelsey Walerius (New Prague, Minn./Tri-City United) and Kitty Tynen (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater) tied for the team lead with 12 blocks.

Yellowjackets 3, Northland 0

The Yellowjackets bounced back in a big way in the second match, dispatching Northland College in straight sets and needing just 75 minutes to do it.

In the first set the Yellowjackets surgically picked the Lumberjills apart to gain the 25-9 win. Big service games from Peterson, Mikayla Bock (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna), and Katie Boone (Mindoro, Wis./Melrose-Mindoro) gave the Yellowjackets a big lead, and then Vonasek closed the door, serving seven straight points to help the Yellowjackets close it out.

The second set was much more even, with the teams trading shots and points, neither able to pull ahead by more than two points. It was the Yellowjackets, however, who scored three of the final four points to win the set 25-23.

To close out the match the Yellowjackets played the third set like the first, never allowing Northland to get into the action and beating them soundly 25-12. Leading the charge in the set was McKenzie Kanipes (Clayton, Wis./Clayton), who served the Yellowjackets to six points, including the final four to close out the match.

Offense was spread around in the match, with Kanipes leading the way with six kills. Deadrick and Tynen followed with five apiece. Deadrick also added 12 assists and four digs. Walerius had eight of the 30 digs in the match to lead the Yellowjackets. Vonasek had three blocks, while Kanipes had two, accounting for five of the six blocks in the match.

Yellowjackets 3, Minnesota Morris 2

Saturday morning saw the Yellowjackets in a five-set marathon with Minnesota Morris, and they saved their best for the very end, coming from behind to win the last two sets and the match despite the fact the Cougars bettered the Yellowjackets in almost every statistical category.

The Yellowjackets claimed the first set by a 25-19 score before dropping the next two sets in lopsided fashion, 15-25 and 13-25. In the fourth set the Yellowjackets regained their footing and dispatched the Cougars 25-14 before closing the match out with a convincing 15-6 rout in the final frame.

Tynen led the Yellowjackets with 12 kills and also had nine digs, while Vonasek continued her strong weekend with 10 kills. Deadrick was her normal self with 38 assists. On defense Peterson had 18 digs while Zimmerman chipped in 14. Jessica Dvergsten (Greenbush, Minn./Greenbush-Middle River) had four blocks.

Carleton 3, Yellowjackets 2

In the finale the Yellowjackets played arguably their tightest match of the young season. They dropped the first set 22-25 before rebounding to even the match in the second with a 25-23 win. Carleton regained the lead in the third set with a 25-21 win, but the Yellowjackets again evened the seesaw match with a 25-23 win in the fourth set. In the end, however, the Knights outlasted the Yellowjackets, grabbing the fifth set 15-11 and handing the Yellowjackets their second loss of the season.

Deadrick had a monster match for the Yellowjackets, putting up a season-best 52 assists. Boone led the Yellowjackets with 19 kills, while Zimmerman added 13 and Tynen 11. Defensively the Yellowjackets had 85 digs for the match, led by Peterson with 22 and Tynen and Zimmerman who had 19 apiece. Vonasek had four more blocks in the match, while Alissa Autio (Floodwood, Minn./) had three.

The Yellowjackets (6-2, 0-0 WIAC) will return to the Twin Cities next weekend, September 13-14, where they will compete in the St. Kate's Invite at St. Catherine University. Opponents on the weekend will include Hamline, Loras, Crown and St. Catherine.

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Yellowjackets split at Macalester Invite