RIPON, Wis. – The long off-season came to a close for the Yellowjacket volleyball team Friday, as it opened the season with a pair of matches at the Ripon College Classic.

The 'Jackets had little difficulty in the season opening match, rolling over Mount Mary 3-0 before falling to the University of Dubuque, 3-1, in the nightcap.
 
It's the third time in four years that the Yellowjackets (1-1, 0-0 UMAC) opened the season with a victory.
 
Match One
The Yellowjackets made quick work of Mount Mary in the opener, sweeping the Blue Angels 3-0 by set scores of 25-15, 25-14, 25-20.
 
A balanced offensive attack was employed by the Yellowjackets, led by 2022 All-UMAC selection Maiana Stark (Germantown, Wis./Germantown), who paced the 'Jackets with nine kills. Four other Yellowjackets – Kielan LaPlante (Chatfield, Minn./Chatfield), Kaylin Plautz (Elk River, Minn./Elk River), Marena Saeger (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) and Emma Crandell (Forest Lake, Minn./Homeschool) had five kills apiece.
 
In the opening set things were tight until the Yellowjackets won four points in a row and eight out of ten to turn a 14-10 edge into a commanding 20-12 lead. Superior took four of the last five points, with a Plautz kill ending it and giving the Yellowjackets a 1-0 lead in the match.

The second set featured more of the same, with things starting close before the Yellowjackets broke it open. Up 10-8, the Yellowjackets got kills from Stark and Saeger along with a pair of errors by the Blue Angels to go up by six. A 5-0 run later in the set made it 21-11 before a Lizzy Schmidt (Twin Lakes, Wis./Wilmot Union) service ace closed out the set, giving the 'Jackets a 2-0 lead.
 
Mount Mary played its best set of the match in the third, but it was too little, too late. With the set tied 10-10 the Blue Angels committed an error to put the Yellowjackets in front by a point, and they would never relinquish the lead. A 6-1 run gave the Yellowjackets a big lead, but the Blue Angels rallied to pull back to within a point, 20-19. That's as close as they would get, however, as the 'Jackets took four of the final five points to win the set 25-20 and the match 3-0.
 
Setter Colleen Claude (Centuria, Wis./Homeschool) led the Yellowjackets with 18 assists in the opener, while Schmidt added 15. Defensively, libero Jenna Anderson (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) turned in a team-high 13 digs while newcomer Kate Jamtgaard (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids) had five blocks.
 
Match Two
In the second match the Yellowjackets took on Dubuque, marking the second time in three seasons the Yellowjackets and Spartans did battle on the season's opening day. In 2021, Dubuque swept the Yellowjackets to open the Central/Grinnell Tournament in Pella, Iowa.
 
Unfortunately for the Yellowjackets, Friday followed a similar pattern, with the Spartans emerging with the win, 3-1. Set scores were 17-25, 25-14, 23-25, 17-25.
 
The first set was back-and-forth, with the teams exchanging points in the early going. Dubuque went on a four-point run to open up a 14-7 lead, but the Yellowjackets battled back to cut that lead in half. The Yellowjackets were never able to get any closer than that, and Dubuque cruised to the opening set win.
 
In the second set the Yellowjackets found their stride and evened the match at 1-1. The teams again traded blows early before the Yellowjackets took advantage of Spartan errors to move in front 8-4. From there the Yellowjackets put the pedal down to open up a big lead. Kills by Stark and Plautz paced the Yellowjackets as they moved in front 16-8. Another Stark kill made it a double-digit lead, 21-11, and shortly after the Yellowjackets closed out in the set.

The third set was another back-and-forth affair, with four tie scores in the first eight points. The Yellowjackets broke the tie on a kill by Ayla Oltmanns (Gilbert, Minn./Duluth East) and then won five-of-six points to move ahead 9-5. They couldn't deliver the knock-out punch, however, and Dubuque battled back, moving in front 15-14. The set remained tight, with the 'Jackets again moving in front 19-18 on a LaPlante kill. It looked like the set was going to go to the 'Jackets, as they led 23-21, but Dubuque had other ideas, winning four straight points to take the set and a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
The Yellowjackets took the lead early in the fourth set and had a lead of 7-4 before Dubuque mounted a rally, going on an 8-4 run to put things out of reach. A late surge pulled the Yellowjackets to within three at 16-19, but the Spartans took control from there and closed out the set, and the match.
 
For the second match in a row Stark led the offense, finishing with 11 kills. She also had 17 digs. Crandell added 10 kills. Renay Rieder (Rice Lake, Wis./Rice Lake) (15) and Claude (13) accounted for 28 of the Yellowjackets' 36 assists. Anderson finished the match with 23 digs.
 
The Yellowjackets will compete in the second day of the Ripon College Classic Saturday, where they will take on the Milwaukee School of Engineering at 10 a.m. and the host from Ripon at 2 p.m.