ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Fifth-ranked Northwestern won its fourth consecutive Upper Midwest Athletic Conference championship with a 25-19, 25-21, 25-19 sweep of the UW-Superior volleyball team Saturday.
 
The loss for the Yellowjackets, who were making a first-ever UMAC title-match appearance, ends their season at 16-13 overall.
 
Senior Alexie Pryd (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove Senior) paced the UWS offense with 11 kills, adding 10 digs for her 14th double-double of the season in her final match at Superior.
 
Sophomore Jenna Anderson (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) had 14 digs and freshman Colleen Claude (Centuria, Wis./Homeschool) 17 assists.
 
The Eagles, who improved to 30-2 overall and did not drop a set to a UMAC opponent in regular season or tournament action, hit .266 in the championship. Abby Glanzer and Ari Schmidt led UNW with 15 and 13 kills, respectively, while Felicia Luther dished 22 assists and Maryly Schroyer registered 23 digs.
 
The first set was tied, 10-10, on a pair of Northwestern errors before the Eagles used a 5-1 run to take a 16-11 advantage. The Yellowjackets hung around, cutting the deficit to 19-16, with a kill from freshman Ella Kapus (Ham Lake, Minn./Blaine). Kills from Pryd and sophomore Maiana Stark (Germantown, Wis./Germantown) made it 21-18 but UNW won four of the final five points in the set to take a lead in the match.
 
UWS led, 4-1, in the second set on a ball-handling error and three kill Stark kills before Gabrielle Straub gave her team the lead at 10-9 with a service ace. Superior benefited from two Northwestern errors and later a senior Cassy Teff (Foley, Minn./Foley) kill to tie it at 13-13. 
 
The Eagles used an 8-3 run to take a 21-16 lead and took the set nine points later.
 
The Yellowjackets had a 14-9 lead in the third set, using a block from Marena Saeger (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) and Kielan LaPlante (Chatfield, Minn./Chatfield) to jumpstart a four-point stretch that also featured a Kaylin Plautz (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) kill and LaPlante ace. UNW then embarked on a 14-3 run that all but sealed the match and conference title.
 
The group of three UWS seniors -- also including Hailey Atwood (Big Lake, Minn./Big Lake) -- was part of 52 wins in their Yellowjacket careers.