EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire volleyball hosted the first games of the 8th annual Sandy Schumacher Memorial Tournament on Friday. Coming off their first Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win, UW-Eau Claire kept their momentum in game one with a 3-0 sweep over St. Catherine (MN) but lost in a five-set thriller to St. Norbet, 2-3.
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
The first game showed the same UW-Eau Claire Blugold recipe from earlier games in the year, as Abby Volk (Sr. – Willmar, MN) and Charlie Nelson (So. – Lakeville, MN/Farmington) helped UWEC to a 4-0 run to start. Volk swung for four kills all set and Nelson tallied 16 assists to push the home squad to a 25-21 win.
The middle frame was led by Mackenzie Bachmann's (Sr. – Chaska, MN) four successful attacks. The Bugolds once again held an early lead, running the score to 13-4 in the first seventeen points of the set. The lead would increase to thirteen by the end for a 2-0 set advantage for Eau Claire.
The final set would land UWEC their tenth win of the season after Kendra Baierl (Sr. – Marshfield, WI/Columbus Catholic) swung to perfection with 5 kills on 5 attempts at the net. Erika Stensland (Sr. – Golden Valley, MN/West Lutheran) helped the the Blugold offense by scoring three points in her only set played. UW-Eau Claire took the final frame 25-19.
Arianna Barrett (Sr. – Lakeville, MN/North) and Jordan Witzel (Jr. – Woodbury, MN/East Ridge) took over in game two with 33 kills combined in the five sets needed. Charlie Nelson totaled a season high 48 assists. UWEC dropped the first set but came back with firepower with four different players completing at least three successful attacks. The third set saw 17 tie scores and eight lead changes, but the Blugolds couldn't close things out and went down two sets to one.
In a win or go home situation, the Blugolds held the lead for only once in a 25-20 win to force the fifth set tiebreaker. In the fifth, the teams traded the lead three times and had the score deadlocked after five different rallies. Despite the close game, the Blugolds were unable to overcome a late three-point run by St. Norbert and suffered their second loss of the season.
The Sandy Schumacher Memorial tournament will resume tomorrow with Eau Claire taking on Lakeland College (WI) at 11:30 AM and Gustavus Adolphus College at 3:30 PM.
Follow the Blugolds all season long at Blugold Game Day or on our app, UWEC Blugolds.
