St. Norbert’s Sweeps Yellowjackets

NSO NEWS RELEASE

Freshman Cassy Teff (Foley, Minn./Foley) collected a double-double of 10 kills and 13 assists and classmate Teah Roszkowiak (Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Tremper) added a career-high 10 kills as the UW-Superior volleyball team swept Finlandia, 3-0, at UW-Oshkosh’s Marty Petersen Invitational Friday.

The Yellowjackets beat the Lions by set scores of 25-16, 25-8 and 25-13, finishing the day with a split. St. Norbert topped UWS, 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-15) in Superior’s first match of the tournament.

Against Finlandia, UWS hit .278 as a team with 40 kills, 13 service aces and six blocks. Finlandia was limited to a -.088 hitting percentage, with a negative attack efficiency in two of the three sets.

Junior Elise Ertl (Phillips, Wis./Phillips) registered nine kills, 12 digs and two aces, while sophomores Jordyn O’Brien (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) and Megan Taylor (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Tech) chipped in five kills and 16 assists, respectively. Freshman Cassie Skattebo (Shell Lake, Wis./Shell Lake) contributed four kills.

The ‘Jackets built a 7-3 lead in the first set on an ace from Teff. The lead grew to 13-7 with an O’Brien kill before Finlandia cut the deficit to 15-13 with a block by Briana Portice and Taylor Hendrick. The Lions got within one with a subsequent Hendrick kill, but UWS tallied 10 of the final 12 points to take the set.

After dropping the first two points of the second set, Superior rattled off six in a row and nine of 10 for a 9-3 advantage. Roszkowiak had three kills and a block and O’Brien swatted two in the stretch.

Up, 10-5, the ‘Jackets scored another six straight, a run sparked by a pair of Hailey Atwood (Big Lake, Minn./Big Lake) aces and kills by Roszkowiak, Skattebo, Kaitlyn Johnson (Gilmanton, Wis./Gilmanton) and Ertl.

An O’Brien kill gave UWS a 22-8 edge and helped the ‘Jackets close the set with two aces by Taylor sandwiched by a Finlandia error.

UWS opened a 13-4 advantage in the third set, surviving a four-point run from the Lions to cut the lead to five. Another Taylor ace – her third of the match – gave her team a 10-point bulge at 19-9. The ‘Jackets cruised from there, ending the match with a Teff kill by Roszkowiak.

Hendrick paced Finlandia (0-17) with seven kills.

Against St. Norbert, UWS (10-13) received a double-double of 10 kills and 14 digs from senior Brylee Colligan (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji). Junior Megan Holz (Savage, Minn./Burnsville) tallied 14 of the team’s 26 assists and senior A.J. Runck (Annandale, Minn./Apple Valley) had three of its six block assists.

UWS boasted three leads in the first set at 2-0, 7-6 and 8-7 and kept it close throughout. Leading 16-15 following a Runck kill and block teaming with Lexi Oeltjen (Lake Elmo, Minn./Stillwater Area), St. Norbert pulled away, tallying seven of nine points. UWS battled back though, getting to within 24-23, but a Grace Baumann kill gave the Green Knights the set.

The ‘Jackets again held their own in the middle stanza before a 7-0 spurt set St Norbert on its way to a 2-0 lead.

The Green Knights sealed the match in the third, hitting .270 with 15 of their 46 kills on the night.

Baumann totaled a match-best 14 and Emily Rohloff had 34 assists and 13 digs as St. Norbert improved to 16-6 with the win.

UWS faces host UW-Oshkosh (9:30) and Luther (11:30 a.m.) Saturday.