RIPON, Wis. – The Yellowjacket volleyball team opened the 2025 campaign Friday, seeing action in their first of four regular season tournaments at the Ripon College Classic. The 'Jackets took on Saint Mary's (Minn.) before ending the day with a meeting with Aurora.
 
Superior played a back-and-forth match with the Cardinals and forced a fifth set but came up short in a 3-2 loss. In Friday's finale, Aurora took an early 2-0 lead before Superior responded with a third set win before the Spartans bounced back for a 3-1 win.
 
Match One Notes

• The opening set saw the Cardinals jump out in front early, but the Yellowjackets gained control at 11-10. As both teams traded blows, the Cardinals orchestrated a four-point and a six-point rally to leap ahead at 25-21.
• Superior led early in the second after Hohbein, Sydney Smith (Milltown, Wis./Unity) and Kate Jamtgaard (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids) logged a bundle of kills. The Cardinals began a comeback and came within two at 15-13, but multiple errors set them back and the 'Jackets countered to run away with a 25-19 set win.
• Saint Mary's took control early in the third, leading by seven at 16-9. UWS received offensive support and came within two at 22-20. Teams exchanged kills late in the set until consecutive kills from Saeger and Sidney Bader (Milltown, Wis./Unity) brought the 'Jackets within one at 24-23, but Paige Klug shut the door to give SMU the third set.
• The fourth set was a back-and-forth fight early on. Both teams volleyed both the lead and points until attacking errors and bad sets from Saint Mary's gave the 'Jackets an opening, forcing a fifth set by winning 25-19.
• In the finale both squads were neck-and-neck with each other until four-straight SMU points occurred. Three consecutive kills for the Cardinals shortly followed which gave them the momentum needed to win a five-set thriller with a fifth-set score of 15-9.
• Hohbein paced with 19 kills, followed by Jamtgaard with 13 and Saeger with 11. Carlie Lohman (South Range, Wis./Superior) and Gabi Schwirtz (Plato, Minn./Glencoe-Silver Lake) logged 22 assists apiece.

 
Match Two Notes

• The Spartans took control early with a 9-3 lead. Kyndra Peterson (Mounds View, Minn./Irondale) and Chesney Phillipp (Jacksonville, N.C./Holdingford) picked up kills throughout the set, but it wasn't enough as Aurora claimed a 25-16 set win.
• AU leaped out in front in set two and held the lead throughout. Savanna Hering (Superior, Wis./Superior) and Melissa Hoff (Holmen, Wis./Holmen) provided offensive output for Superior, but the Spartans pushed forward to a 25-17 win.
• The Yellowjackets showed life in the third set. An early four-point rally begun with an Alaina Wilberg (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) kill kept the set close. Back-and-forth play continued until AU logged four points to lead 18-15 before the 'Jackets responded with five straight points of their own. Smith, Hohbein and Lohman provided the push for UWS to win 25-22.
• Aurora responded well in the fourth, ultimately winning 25-13. The Spartans utilized a combination of Yellowjacket miscues and strong offense to shut the door and finish day one with a 3-1 victory.
• Hohbein finished with double-digit kills once again, this time logging 11. Izabella Kowalczyk and Katelyn Ruse garnered 16 and 13 kills, respectively.

 
Day two of the Ripon College Classic continues Saturday. Superior faces off against Emmaus at 10 a.m. before ending with the tournament-host Red Hawks at 12 p.m. inside the Doc Weiske Memorial Gymnasium.
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