By: Jake Krier, UWEC Sports Information
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (blugolds.com) - Day two of the 2017 Nike/Eastbay Fall Classic took place on Saturday with the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire volleyball team picking up a split on the day.
In the morning session, the Blugolds defeated Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) in three sets. Scores of 25-21 in the bookend sets and 25-18 for the middle set made up the win for UW-Eau Claire.
Leading the Blugold attack was Madelyn Pashibin (Jr.-Minneapolis, MN/Minneapolis Southwest) who hit .464 with 14 kills on 28 attempts. Jessica Coyne (Jr.-Verona, WI) tallied ten kills, while Makenzie Bachmann (Fr.-Chaska, MN) and Emily Miller (Sr.-Prior Lake, MN) followed up with seven and six respectively.
Feeding the hitters was Madison Surprise (Jr.-Appleton, WI/Kimberly), who finished with 36 assists. Defensively, three Blugolds accounted for double-digit digs. Amber Karn (Jr.-Middleton, WI) had 15, Talia Jaskulske (Sr.-Maplewood, MN/North St. Paul) had 13, and Kelsey Kowitz (Jr.-Inver Grove Heights, MN/Saint Croix Lutheran) had 11 in the win over the Cobbers.
The Blugolds completed the weekend with a close loss to the University of Chicago. Despite being swept in the match, all three sets were tight; Eau Claire fell short 25-22, 25-23, and 25-21.
Chicago hit an impressive .311, highlighted by a .351 mark in set one and .341 in the final set. Eau Claire limited their errors for the most part as well, putting together a .246 hitting percentage in the match.
Pashibin improved her numbers from the morning's match, this time going for 15 kills on 27 attempts. Bachmann connected for 12 put-aways on 34 attempts. As in the first match, Surprise tallied 36 assists again, while Jaskulske's 18 digs led the Blugolds.
Following a difficult non-conference stretch to open the season, Eau Claire will now turn their attention to Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play. On Wednesday, they host UW-River Falls in the first of three straight WIAC contests. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m. at the McPhee Center.
Follow the action all season long on Blugold Game Day.
