EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - After splitting its matches yesterday, the UW-Eau Claire volleyball team closed out the annual Labor Day Classic victoriously, claiming two wins Saturday at the McPhee Physical Education Center.
To begin the second day of competition, the Blugolds swept Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) 3-0 and later won a closer match against the College of St. Benedict (Minn.) with a final result of 3-1.
In the first match against Concordia-Moorhead, Eau Claire handily won the first two sets (25-13, 25-17). The Cobbers came out strong in the third set, putting the Blugolds down 18-14 and 24-20 at times, but the Blugolds prevailed in the end to win 26-24.
En route to the victory, the Blugolds racked up 36 kills to the Cobbers' 26, with Liz Amici (Jr.-Whitewater, Wis.) leading Eau Claire with 13. Amanda Lessner (Sr.-Watertown, Wis.) recorded the most assists for the team with 25 while Blair Murphy's (Sr.-Hermantown, Minn.) 25 digs was also a team high. Rachel Ver Voort (Sr.-Madison, Wis./Middleton) and Danielle Lucia (Sr.-St. Cloud, Minn./Apollo) also added 10 digs each to the team's 57 total.
Later in the afternoon, the Blugolds returned to the courts and jumped out to a quick one-set lead over St. Benedict after out-scoring the Blazers 25-17. The Blazers narrowly edged out Eau Claire 25-22 in the second set, but the Blugolds recovered to win the next sets 25-23, 25-17 and take the match.
Similarly to earlier in the day, Lessner led the Blugolds in assists with 43 and Murphy again recorded a team-high 19 digs. Lucia and Elizabeth Anderson (Jr.-Rib Lake, Wis.) tallied 13 kills each.
The two victories improve the Blugolds' season record to 3-1. The results put the team in a three-way tie with Concordia-Moorhead and Carthage College (Wis.) for the best tournament record. The Blugolds also had one representative, Murphy, selected to the All-Tournament team. Murphy was one of six players given this honor.
Next up the Blugolds will compete in the two-day Augsburg Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn. The Blugolds' will first have a rematch against St. Benedict at 2 p.m. on Friday before facing Edgewood College (Wis.) at 6 p.m.
