WINONA, Minn. – The Yellowjacket volleyball team went through the second and final day of the Sugar Loaf Classic Saturday. After opening the year with a 3-0 sweep over Wisconsin Lutheran Friday evening, the 'Jackets had to dig deep and began their day with a reverse sweep of Saint Mary's, winning 3-2. In their third match of the weekend, they defeated Luther 3-1 to cap the weekend with a perfect 3-0 record.
Match One Notes
- The 'Jackets and Cardinals traded points and the lead in the first set rather often. Superior saw kills from Sydney Smith (Milltown, Wis./Unity), Kyndra Peterson (Mounds View, Minn./Irondale) and Aspen Gentele (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria) early, while Makenna Hohbein (Holdingford, Minn./Holdingford) and Coral Cook (Shawano, Wis./Shawano) would follow midway through the set.
- As teams continued to volley momentum, the Yellowjackets came within two after kills from Gentele and Melissa Hoff (Holmen, Wis./Holmen), but a pair of kills from the Cardinals gave them the first set win at 25-22.
- Saint Mary's jumped out to an early advantage in set two, leading 9-3. Liv Kriewaldt (Clintonville, Wis./Clintonville) garnered consecutive kills and Hoff would follow. The Cardinals utilized a pair of rallies to push their lead to 18-9, but the 'Jackets would crawl back courtesy of SMU miscues and offensive output from Peterson, Smith and Hoff. The Cardinals would hold on, however, winning set two 25-22.
- Set three began once again with both teams trading points until the 'Jackets scored five in a row to lead 11-5. Both squads exchanged four-point rallies before Superior maintained control throughout the set, winning 25-18.
- In the fourth, both teams once again remained close to each other in scoring. After trading blows midway through, Superior led by three at 16-13. Hoff and Hohbein, alongside Kriewaldt and Gentele helped push the pace that was solidified with a kill from Smith and a service ace courtesy of Cook, forcing a fifth.
- Like the rest of the match, the final set was back-and-forth. At 8-8, the 'Jackets logged three kills and four points in a row, but the Cardinals would counter and level things at 12-12. After a combined block from Peterson and Smith, they would each log a kill to complete the reverse sweep of the Cardinals.
- Savanna Hering (Superior, Wis./Superior) finished with 21 digs to pace defensively, while Cook and Lohman had 14.
- Peterson led with 11 kills, while Hoff and Hohbein each logged 10.
Match Two Notes
- Versus Luther, the Yellowjackets led 9-2 after Alaina Wilberg (Anoka, Minn./Anoka), Smith, and Hoff logged kills early. Peterson and Hoff continued, and alongside some Norse errors, Superior led 15-5.
- Later, Smith would log a pair of service aces to push the lead to 20-9 before Claire Egnash (Superior, Wis./Superior), Taylor Tollefson (Pine City, Minn./Pine City) and Kate Jamtgaard (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids) checked in and provided kills of their own, leading to a 25-14 victory.
- Luther took control of the second set, leading 8-2 to start. The 'Jackets would struggle to produce offensively, as Luther pushed away with a 25-17 win.
- In the third, both teams traded the lead and points throughout the set. Peterson, Smith and Hohbein led the charge until Luther garnered five points to regain the lead at 11-9. Smith and Peterson followed until both teams volleyed points consecutively.
- A kill from Gentele began a three-point rally for Superior, but despite the Norse responding with points of their own, the 'Jackets came up with a big block from Hoff and Peterson before Hohbein took a feed from Lohman and collected the set point at 27-25.
- Another back-and-forth duel ensued, but the 'Jackets took control midway through the set after tying things up at 15-15. Alayna Schultz (Atwater, Minn./Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City) logged pair of service aces to spark a rally, and despite a pair of Luther kills to disrupt the rally, the 'Jackets utilized some miscues to their advantage and finished with a 25-18 victory in set four.
- Smith led with 10 kills, while Lohman logged 19 assists and Schultz followed with 14. Hohbein spearheaded the defensive department with 17 digs, followed by Hering's 13 and Cook's seven.
The Yellowjackets will now set their sights to the Saint Paul Classic, set for Friday and Saturday. Their first opponent will be co-tournament host Hamline, beginning at 7 p.m.
