Eau Claire, Wis. – The Gustavus Volleyball team suffered a pair of losses on the final day of the 2013 Sandy Schumacher Memorial Tournament held over the weekend at the McPhee Physical Education Center. The Gusties suffered a 3-2 loss to UW-Eau Claire in their morning match, then fell to UW-La Crosse 3-0 to cap the weekend. Gustavus will head back into MIAC play next week with an overall record of 9-15.
Gustavus vs. UW-Eau Claire Recap
The Gusties suffered a heartbreaker in their opening match of the day to host UW-Eau Claire. After the Blugolds won the first set 25-21, Gustavus bounced back to tie the match with a 25-21 win of its own in the second. UW-Claire took the third 25-18, and the Black and Gold responded with a 26-24 win in the fourth. In the fifth and final frame, the Blugolds posted 11 kills and hit at a .308 rate to win 15-8 and take the match.
Coming off a 36-kill night in Gustavus’s opening two matches yesterday, Alyssa Taylor (Jr., Trimont, Minn.) continued her stellar work at the net today. The junior pounded the floor with a match-high 17 kills and made just two errors for an attack percentage of .349. Taylor’s performance against UW-Eau Claire was the fifth straight in a stretch of matches where she posted a hitting percentage above the .300 mark.
Janessa Jahnke (Fy., Blue Earth, Minn.) also finished with double-digit kills, tallying 12 with a .118 attack rate.
Paige Breneman (Jr., Sherburn, Minn.) led the back row with her best digging performance of the season. Breneman finished with a season-best 35 digs, out-doing her previous high of 28 turned in on three different occasions.
Kendra Weege (Jr., Watertown, Minn.) handled the setting duties and finished with a second straight double-double with 46 assists and a season-high 17 digs.
As a team, Gustavus recorded 54 kills with a .194 hitting percentage. UW-Eau Claire had 56 kills and a .166 hitting percentage.
Gustavus vs. UW-La Crosse Recap
Gustavus could not get on track in its finale against UW-La Crosse later in the afternoon. The Eagles cruised to the sweep through set scores of 25-15, 25-22, and 25-18.
Alyssa Taylor led the offense once again, finishing with 10 kills and a .273 hitting percentage. She reached double-figure kills for the fourth straight match – her longest streak of the season.
Gustavus hit at a rate of .239 after registering 27 kills, and UW-La Crosse hit .310 with 40 kills.
Breneman was the team’s leader in digs with seven, while Weege did the setting and finished with 24 assists.
The Gustavus volleyball team will have a week free of matches before hitting the road for a pair of MIAC contests next weekend. The Gusties will travel to Moorhead to face Concordia at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 18 to start the weekend. They will then trek to St. Joseph to take on Saint Benedict on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 3:00 p.m.