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Wisconsin-Superior
Yellowjackets
Ashlee Bayer
Jade Jensen

Volleyball

Tough Saturday For Yellowjackets

Ashlee Bayer had the best day of her freshman season, but it wasn't enough to help the Yellowjackets win Saturday.
Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

The last seven days have been quite contrasting for the Yellowjacket volleyball team. Last Saturday, the Yellowjackets completed a strong weekend at the Finlandia Invitational, running roughshod over the competition and enjoying a perfect week, going 5-0. Since that time, the game has been anything but kind to the Yellowjackets.

Monday they dropped a tough home match to Hamline before embarking on UMAC play in the UMAC Preview tournament. After splitting Friday's matches, the Yellowjackets dropped a pair Saturday, falling to Minnesota Morris and Northwestern.

Minnesota Morris 3, Yellowjackets 0

The first match Saturday saw the Yellowjackets battling Minnesota Morris, but unfortunately they couldn't pick up their second straight victory. The Yellowjackets struggled offensively, attacking at a percentage of .059, and committing 27 attack errors, helping Minnesota Morris earn the win by way of a sweep.

The Cougars led wire-to-wire in the opening set. Winning five of the first six points, Minnesota Morris kept the Yellowjackets at arm's length early, leading by two or three points through the early stages. The Cougars opened up a four-point lead, 13-9 before the Yellowjackets battled back to within one. That's as close as they'd get. Morris, leading 13-12, went on a 5-0 run to pull away and held the Yellowjackets off, taking the opening set 25-19.

Again the Cougars took the lead early in the second set, and again the Yellowjackets battled back. They took their first lead of the set, and the match, when Alexis Landherr (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) picked up the kill to make it 10-9 Yellowjackets. The Yellowjackets would fall behind, only to regain the lead at 17-16. They eventually built a three-point cushion, but Morris came back to tie. The Yellowjackets broke the tie and put themselves in position to earn the win with a 22-20, but Morris came from behind, winning five of the final six points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

In the third set the Yellowjackets struggled on offense, and like Friday's first match with Martin Luther, had a negative attack percentage. Morris' attack percentage wasn't much better, making for a third set that went down to the wire. The Yellowjackets started strong, quickly jumping to a 3-0 lead. Morris battled back to tie and the teams began trading points. With the score tied 7-7 the Cougars went ahead and never again gave up the lead. They pulled away with a 7-0 run to lead 22-12. The Yellowjackets made it interesting, however. Down 10 the Yellowjackets won five straight points to cut the deficit in half. Morris took a point back before the Yellowjackets again reeled off five in a row to pull to within one. A pair of kills late, however, put the finishing touches on the set, with the Cougars winning 25-22 and taking the match 3-0.

Ashlee Bayer (Cameron, Wis./Cameron) and Stephanie Bandelin (Esko, Minn./Esko) led the Yellowjackets with nine kills each. Emily VerWay (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley) continued the strong start to her freshman season with 31 assists. Defensively Karlie Leif (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) had a team-high 11 digs.

Northwestern 3, Yellowjackets 0

The second match of the day pitted the Yellowjackets against the tournament hosts from Northwestern, and lets just say the Eagles were anything but gracious in their hosting duties. The Yellowjackets again struggled on offense and committed too many errors. Meanwhile Northwestern took advantage and swept the Yellowjackets 3-0 by scores of 25-11, 25-14, and 25-20.

Northwestern led the first set from start to finish, taking the first three points before the Yellowjackets got on the board courtesy of a kill from Bayer. Despite trailing, the Yellowjackets stayed within striking distance of the Eagles, closing to within four at 15-11. That's when the set fell apart, as Northwestern won the next 10 points to cruise to a win in the in the first set.

It was more of the same in the second set, as Northwestern again took an early lead and led from beginning to end. The Yellowjackets got to within two at 7-5 before the Eagles won four points in a row to give themselves some breathing room. After each team won a point Northwestern went on an 11-4 run to make the lead insurmountable, and later closed out the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set saw the Yellowjackets lead for the first time in the match, as they took the first three points to go ahead. They built the lead to four, 7-3, before Northwestern rallied, eventually grabbing the lead at 10-9. They followed that by winning six of seven points to pull away once again. The Yellowjackets closed the gap again, winning seven of 11 points to get to within two at 20-18. But Northwestern beared down and closed out the set and the match, taking five of the last seven points.

Bayer was the top offensive player for the Yellowjackets again, leading the team with eight kills. VerWay posted 21 assists. VerWay and Leah Nightingale (Dayton, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) led the Yellowjackets with 10 digs apiece.

The Yellowjackets (8-6, 0-0 UMAC) finished the UMAC Preview with a 1-3 mark. They return to action Tuesday, September 22 when they host Finlandia University in non-conference action. Game time from Mertz Mortorelli Gym is set for 7:00 p.m.
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Players Mentioned

Stephanie Bandelin

#16 Stephanie Bandelin

OH
6' 0"
Senior
Alexis Landherr

#9 Alexis Landherr

RSH
5' 9"
Junior
Leah Nightingale

#22 Leah Nightingale

OH
5' 9"
Sophomore
Emily VerWay

#1 Emily VerWay

S
5' 7"
Freshman
Karlie Leif

#3 Karlie Leif

DS
5' 6"
Freshman
Ashlee Bayer

#18 Ashlee Bayer

MH
5' 10"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Stephanie Bandelin

#16 Stephanie Bandelin

6' 0"
Senior
OH
Alexis Landherr

#9 Alexis Landherr

5' 9"
Junior
RSH
Leah Nightingale

#22 Leah Nightingale

5' 9"
Sophomore
OH
Emily VerWay

#1 Emily VerWay

5' 7"
Freshman
S
Karlie Leif

#3 Karlie Leif

5' 6"
Freshman
DS
Ashlee Bayer

#18 Ashlee Bayer

5' 10"
Freshman
MH