Friday was opening day of the 2018 season for the Yellowjacket volleyball team, and they traveled a long way to play their first matches of the year, taking on a tough field at a tournament hosted by the University of Texas at Dallas. The Yellowjackets took on a pair of difficult opponents, dropping both matches to start the season 0-2.

UT-Dallas 3, Yellowjackets 0

In the opening match of the day the Yellowjackets took on the hosts from UT-Dallas and they fell behind early as the Comets took five of the first six points. The Yellowjackets battled back, riding the serves of Karlie Leif (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) to four straight points to even the opening set 8-8. The teams went back and forth, with the first set seeing ties at 15-15 and 19-19 before the Comets took six of the last seven points and win frame 25-20.

The second set followed a similar pattern, but this time it was the Yellowjackets who ran out to the early lead. An Ashlee Bayer (Cameron, Wis./Cameron) kill broke a 3-3 tie early, and the Yellowjackets followed with four straight points coming off the serve of Maya Callaway (Duluth, Minn./East). The Yellowjackets would push their lead to five points, 12-7, when freshman Cami Sletta (Willmar, Minn./Willmar) earned the kill on an assist from Emily VerWay (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley). UT-Dallas would battle back just like the Yellowjackets did in the opening set, riding a pair of four-point runs to take the lead. The Comets would win seven of the last eight points and claim the set 25-20.

In the third set the teams again played it close, with neither opening up a big lead early. It wasn't until later that the Comets went on a run and put the match away. Taylor Howe (Webster, Wis./Webster) picked up the kill to pull the Yellowjackets to within two at 11-9, but that was as close as they would get. UT-Dallas would go on a seven-point run to pull away and closed out the set 25-16 and the match 3-0.

Sletta led the Yellowjackets with 11 kills and had an attack percentage of .381 for the match. She was the only Yellowjacket to reach double digits. VerWay led the Yellowjackets with 25 assists as well as nine digs.

Mary Hardin-Baylor 3, Yellowjackets 0

The second match of the day pitted the Yellowjackets against Mary Hardin-Baylor and again was played close before the Crusaders pulled away in the third set to get the win.

In the first set the teams exchanged points early, but neither pulled away and the score was tied several times. An attack by Elise Ertl (Phillips, Wis./Phillips) gave the Yellowjackets a two-point lead at 7-5, but the advantage was short-lived. The Crusaders went on a run of their own before stalling out, and the Yellowjackets worked their way back and took a 12-11 lead. The teams continued to stay close before the Crusaders went on a run and pulled ahead 21-17. The Yellowjackets never got back to within four points and dropped the first set 25-21.

The second set was another back-and-forth affair as the teams traded points, and neither was able to pull away and open up a lead. The Yellowjackets took charge late in the set, breaking a 16-16 tie on a point by Bayer. Brylee Colligan (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) and Sletta added kills and the Yellowjackets were up 20-17, but they weren't able to hold the lead. Mary Hardin-Baylor came storming back and the teams deadlocked at 24-24. The Crusaders took the final two points to win the set 26-24.

There was a lot less drama in the third set with the Crusaders opening up a big lead early, winning six of the first seven points and never looking back. Unable to string a run together, the Yellowjackets never recovered the Crusaders closed out the match with a 25-13 win in the third set.

VerWay again set the table for the Yellowjacket offense, finished the match with 28 assists, giving her 53 for the day. Howe led the team with eight kills. On defense Leif turned in a team-best 13 digs.

Up Next: The Yellowjackets (0-2, 0-0 UMAC) will wrap up the weekend in Texas Saturday when they take on LeTourneau University of Longview, Texas and Texas Lutheran of Seguin, Texas. Game times are 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., respectively.