Yellowjacket Spikers Go 1-1

Vicki Vinokur had 18 kills in Friday's matches, helping the Yellowjackets go 1-1.

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

After an impressive opening weekend that saw them go 3-1, the Yellowjacket volleyball team faced another pair of difficult opponents on Friday night as they competed in Augsburg Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn. The Yellowjackets would face a tough University of Northwestern team in the opener and the hosts from Augsburg in the nightcap.

Yellowjackets 3, Northwestern 1

It wasn't a sweep, but it was good enough to get the job done against a University of Northwestern - St. Paul team that last weekend knocked off the No. 9 team in the nation and came into the weekend undefeated. The Yellowjackets took care of the Eagles in four games, winning 3-1 (25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 25-19). Junior Stephanie Bandelin (Esko, Minn./Esko), who last weekend was named to the all-tournament team at the Beloit Buc Blast led the offensive attack for the Yellowjackets, smacking home a match-high 16 kills. The Yellowjackets also had two more players reach double-digits in kills in senior Vicki Vinokur (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove), who finished with 13 kills and freshman Gabrielle Olson (Menomonie, Wis./Menomonie) had 12, including the match-winning kill. Of course, those three couldn't have put up those kind of numbers without a little assistance. Senior Keely Deadrick (Esko, Minn./Esko) dished-out a match-high 49 assists, beating Northwestern's Lizzy Jonas, who finished with 44. The 49 assists were also a season high for Deadrick, who sits second on the UW-Superior all-time list for assists with 3,307.

Defensively Deadrick was on her game, too. She recorded 16 digs, two behind Chelsey Walerius (New Prague, Minn./Tri-City United)' team-high 18. Vinokur also was strong on the defensive side, picking up eight digs. Olson finished the match with a season-high eight blocks.

Augsburg 3, Yellowjackets 0

After a great first match, the Yellowjackets were not able to keep the momentum going. Moving from one match directly into the next, they faced off against an athletic Augsburg team that had a couple hours off during the Yellowjackets' first match, and the break paid off as the Auggies blanked the Yellowjackets 3-0.

The Yellowjackets hung around in the first set, losing 25-23. It looked the opening set was going to be a runaway, but the Yellowjackets rallied and made it close in the end. Augsburg pulled away and opened up a seven-point lead at 17-10. The Yellowjackets battled back but ran out of time and the Auggies took the opening set. The next two sets weren't as close as fatigue began to set in, and the Auggies handled the Yellowjackets 25-19 and 25-14.

The sweep by Augsburg marks the first time Superior has been swept this season. Augsburg dominated offensively, as sophomore Ellen Sachs recorded a match-high 16 kills and added 11 digs. Junior Ashley Peper also recorded a double-digit kill total with 10. But the star of the night was sophomore setter Courtney Lemke who had 37 assists in the match for the Auggies. The Auggies had 13 more kills than the Yellowjackets and the Yellowjackets committed seven more errors than the Auggies throughout the match.

The two bright spots for the Yellowjackets were Deadrick who recorded 28 assists, giving her 77 through two matches, and defensive specialist Walerius who had 20 digs in the match, giving her 38 on the day.

The scene shifts from Minneapolis to St. Paul, as the Yellowjackets will be playing at Hamline University tomorrow. They have two matches, scheduled for 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. against Crown College and the host Hamline University Pipers, respectively.

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