Dillon Hogan/Winonan
The Winona State University volleyball team traveled to Warrensburg, Mo. to play in their second straight weekend tournament hosted this time by Central Missouri.
The Warriors played against host Central Missouri first. Central Missouri is currently ranked number seven in the nation, and bested the Warriors 3-0. In the first game of the match the Warriors fell 25-16.
Then fell 25-13 in the second game, and 25-14 in the third and final game.
The Warrior defense was paced by Bekah Saugen and Leah Perri, who each finished the match with 11 digs apiece.
Offensively the Warriors had difficulties, hitting only .058 for the duration of the match. Katie Froehle was the Warriors kill leader with seven, and Elena Kruesel dished out ten assists to lead the Warriors.
After the loss, the Warriors were in for another tough opponent, this time Ferris State, who came into the match ranked number 23 nationally.
A quick start by the Warriors and a .367 hitting percentage allowed them to take the first game of the match by a score of 25-18 and the secure the early lead. Ferris State would then come back, winning the next three games by scores of 25-16, 25-20 and 25-19 to claim the match win.
Saugen led the Warriors in kills with 14, followed by Froehle with 11 and Alli Glisch with 10. For the second straight match, Kruesel led the Warriors in assists with 21, while Kaley Jacobson was right behind with 17.
Defensively, the Warriors had three players finish with double digit digs. Saugen paced the team with 14, followed by Perri and Froehle each with 12.
Winona State was looking to record their first victory of the tournament. Facing McKendree, the Warriors looked dominant en route to a straight set victory and their first tournament victory.
The Warriors jumped ahead in the first game for a 25-16 win followed by victories in the final two games of the match both by a score of 25-18. Pacing the Warrior offense were Laura Zeamer and Kathleen Omelina, who finished the match with .444 and .429 hitting percentages respectively.
Rachel Polland and Saugen each recorded double digit kills and were the only players from either team to do so. Kayla Uhlenhake was the top assist giver for the Warriors, finishing the match with 15 recorded assists.
On the defensive side, Froehle led the Warriors with 17 digs and right behind her was Saugen with 16.
Winona State dropped both matches in the last day of the tournament against Emporia State and Pittsburg State.
In the first match against Emporia State, the Warriors took the first game by a score of 25-17, but Emporia rebounded in the second game to win 25-23.
In the third game, the Warriors had the win again 25-22. One game away from claiming the match, Winona State lost the next two games by score of 25-13 and 15-13 to give the Warriors their third loss in the tournament. Saugen again led the Warriors in kills with 12 and also added 14 digs defensively. Kruesel had a team high 28 assists and Froehle and Perri tied with 18 digs each.
In their final match of the tournament, the Warriors faced Pittsburg State and with offensive struggles, the Warriors recorded a straight set loss to end their weekend. The Warriors fell by scores of 25-17, 25-21 and 25-22.
The Warriors were unable to get anything going offensively hitting just .107 for the match and having no player reach double digit kills. With nine kills apiece Froehle and Polland were the leaders for the Warriors.
The Warriors, who at week’s end had a 3-6 record begin their season of conference play on Thursday, Sept. 19 when they travel to Mankato to play Minnesota State at 7 p.m.
Contact Dillon at [email protected]
