MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (Blugolds.com) – The UW-Eau Claire volleyball team dropped both of its matches on the opening day of competition at the 30th Augsburg College Invitational, falling to Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) and No. 25 College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) this afternoon.
The Blugolds started the invite against Gustavus, who claimed the first two sets by scores of 25-19 and 25-20. Eau Claire kept it close in the third set, but ultimately fell 26-24.
The match against St. Scholastica started out eerily similar to the Gustavus match, as Eau Claire dropped the first two sets by the same scores. Blugold victories (25-18, 25-19) in the third and fourth staved off defeat, but the Saints took the fifth set 15-7 for the match victory.
Emily Neave (Jr.-Salem, Wis./Westosha Central) led the Blugolds in set assists during both matches, with 27 of the team's 29 against Gustavus and another 40 in the loss to St. Scholastica. Neave and Jenny Burzynski (Sr.-Stanley, Wis./Stanley-Boyd) both recorded double digit digs in the matches. Burzynski led the way with 17 against the Golden Gusties and 20 against the Saints.
Liz Amici (Sr.-Whitewater, Wis.) led the Blugolds in kills in the Gustavus match, recording 11 of the Blugolds' 30. Amy Bomgren (Jr.-Woodbury, Minn.) recorded the most kills for Eau Claire with 13 in the St. Scholastica match. She was followed closely by Amici and Laura Slinger (Sr.-Faribault, Minn./Bethlehem Academy), who both tallied 11 kills apiece.
The losses drop the Blugolds to 3-5 on the year. Eau Claire will hit the court when the invite resumes tomorrow for a match against the College of St. Benedict at 9 a.m.
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