PELLA, Iowa – The UW-Superior volleyball team dropped a pair of matches to Dubuque, 3-0, and Simpson, 3-1, to open the 2021 campaign at the Central/Grinnell Tournament at P.H. Kuyper Gym on Friday.
 
The Yellowjackets battled in their second contest of the day, falling by an 18-25, 25-17, 22-25, 22-25 margin after a sweep to begin the season. Dubuque took the opener, 25-19, 25-18, 27-25.
 
Freshman Maiana Stark (Germantown, Wis./Germantown) paced the UWS offense against Simpson with 11 kills, while junior Cassy Teff (Foley, Minn./Foley) added 16 assists. Junior Hailey Atwood (Big Lake, Minn./Big Lake) scooped 15 digs and freshman Jenna Anderson (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) picked up 10.
 
Superior knotted the match, 1-1, taking control of the second set with five consecutive points to lead, 12-6, when Stark and Savanna Renderman (Altoona, Wis./Altoona) combined for three kills. Simpson pulled within 16-14, but the 'Jackets tallied four of the next five points for a 20-15 advantage, closing the set six points later.
 
UWS took a 2-0 led in the third set on a kill and service ace from Megan Holz (Savage, Minn./Burnsville Senior) before Simpson rallied for an 11-4 edge, using a 6-1 run. Superior cut the lead to two at 24-22 down the stretch with a Simpson attack error and Teff kill, but a Courtney Paxton kill on the next point handed the set to the Storm.
 
In the fourth, UWS won three straight points to cut the Simpson lead to 18-17 with the help a service error, block from Renderman and Stark and Rilie Kupka (Eagan, Minn./Burnsville Senior) kill.  Simpson responded with three points of its own before the Yellowjackets got back within one at 21-20 on a Kupka kill from Anderson. The Storm put the match away six points later with an ace.
 
Junior Alexie Pryd (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove Senior) led Superior with 10 kills against Dubuque with Holz dishing out 16 assists. Anderson had a team-leading seven digs, while Teff, Atwood and Pryd recorded six apiece.
 
The Yellowjackets took a 12-10 lead in the third set with a Kupka kill and Atwood ace, but Dubuque won six of the next seven for a 16-13 advantage. The teams traded points to 21-21 when Holz had a pair of aces to give her squad a 23-21 edge.  From there, the Spartans won six of the final eight points to claim the match.
 
Superior heads to Grinnell Saturday to face the Pioneers at 11 a.m., closes the weekend against Cornell at 1 p.m.