MORRIS, Minn. – For the second consecutive match, the UW-Superior volleyball team and Minnesota Morris went toe-to-toe, but unlike Saturday's five-set victory for the Yellowjackets in the regular-season finale, the Cougars prevailed in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference semifinals, 3-1, on Jim Gremmels Court Tuesday.
 
Minnesota Morris advanced to the UMAC championship match with a 25-19, 18-25, 25-23, 25-23 victory over Superior, ending the 'Jackets' season at 12-17.
 
The match was tight throughout, featuring 33 tie scores and 12 lead changes, including a combined 24 ties and seven lead changes in the third and fourth sets alone. 
 
Junior Alexie Pryd (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove Senior) recorded a match-high 23 kills and senior Megan Holz (Savage, Minn./Burnsville Senior) closed her career with a double-double of 29 assists and 16 digs, but was UWS unable to find an answer for the Minnesota Morris trio of Lydia Nash (15 kills), Kennedy Geller (11 kills, .556 attack percentage) and Maggie Jones (11 kills, .455).
 
Freshman Maiana Stark (Germantown, Wis./Germantown) added 16 kills for UWS, hitting .282, and junior Cassy Teff (Foley, Minn./Foley) completed a double-double of her own with 13 kills and 21 assists. 
 
The Cougars (15-13) hit .395 in the opening set with 16 kills and one error in 38 attacks, but neither team held a lead of more than three points until a Maggie Jones kill made it 22-18. McKenzie Newton followed with a service error for 22-19 but the Cougars used kills by Jones and Nash and a UWS error to close the set and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Superior hit .342 in the second set with 17 kills and four errors in 38 swings to help even the match. 
 
The Yellowjackets jumped out to an 8-4 advantage on a Pryd kill that capped a four-point spurt. Following a Teff error, UWS rattled off four more points on two more Pryd kills, a Jenna Anderson (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) ace and Morris error to extend the edge to 12-5. The Cougars cut the lead to 15-10 with a quick three-point run, but UWS cruised to the set win, ending it with a Stark kill from Teff for the seven-point victory.
 
UWS held a 20-17 edge late the third on a Laura Wellbeck service error, but couldn't finish off the set as Morris used a 5-0 run to take control. A Teff swing stopped the momentum momentarily, but the Cougars took it five points later on a Geller winner.
 
Superior posted a 9-7 advantage early in the fourth, but Morris rallied to take a 17-15 edge with a Geller swing, assisted by Newton. A Pryd kill knotted the score at 17-17 before the teams traded points to 22-22. The Cougars used consecutive blocks by Geller and Jenna Howden to set up match point, though. The  Yellowjackets staved off one, but Nash gave her team the match with a swing from Newton for the win.
 
Minnesota Morris returns to the UMAC championship match against No. 15 Northwestern Saturday. The Eagles dispatched Martin Luther, 3-0, on Wednesday in the other semifinal.