EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The 20th-ranked UW-Eau Claire volleyball team had a tough day on the second day of its own Labor Day Classic, falling twice at the McPhee Physical Education Center.
The Blugolds opened the day against St. Benedict (Minn.) and played the Blazers close the entire match but fell 3-1 in the end. St. Benedict opened with a 25-20 win but Eau Claire won the next one 26-24. But, the Blazers took the next two 25-20 and 25-23 for the overall win.
In the final match of the day against Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.), the Blugolds opened with a 25-23 win but fell in the second set 25-18. After winning the next one 26-24 to take a 2-1 lead, the Blugolds then dropped the final two sets 25-22 and 15-12 to take the 3-2 win.
In each match, the Blugolds' opponents finished with hitting percentages of over .300. St. Benedict finished hitting .307 to the Blugolds' .232 while Concordia hit .350 to Eau Claire's .176.
Eau Claire totaled 105 kills on the day with Kelly Schuh (So.-Appleton, Wis./Hortonville) leading the first match with 13 and Laura Slinger (Sr.-Faribault, Minn./Bethlehem Academy) leading the second one with 13, Schuh and Anne Satterlee (Green Bay, Wis./Ashwaubenon) both reached double-digit kill totals in the second match as well.
On defense, Jenny Burzynski (Sr.-Stanley, Wis./Stanley-Boyd) led the first match with 24 digs as four other Blugolds finished with double-digit dig totals. Burzynski again led the team with 16 digs in the second match while two others were also in double figures.
Emily Neave (Jr.-Salem, Wis./Westosha Central) finished with 37 set assists in the first match and 43 in the second. Both were match-highs.
The Blugolds will be home again for two more matches in the coming days. They will host Bethel University (Minn.) and St. Scholastica (Minn.) on Tuesday. The first match is scheduled for 4 p.m.
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