ST. PAUL - The Martin Luther College volleyball team lost both its matches on day one of the UMAC Preview Tournament hosted by the University of Northwestern on Friday. The Knights lost 3-0 to Northwestern by the scores of 25-10, 25-10 and 25-12, and then lost 3-1 to UW-Superior by the scores of 22-25, 25-19, 25-17 and 25-12.

UNW 3, Martin Luther 0

The Knights lost the opener of the tournament to host Northwestern 3-0 by the scores of 25-10, 25-10 and 25-12.

The Eagles, the conference favorites heading into the season, hit a blistering .444 on the attack in the match on the way to the three-set win.

The Knights were unable to get much going on the attack, hit -.024 for the match. Kira Grev led the team with five kills.

Emily Neeb led MLC in digs with 11.

UWS 3, MLC 1

MLC won the first set, but lost the final three on the way to a 3-1 loss to UW-Superior by the scores of 22-25, 25-19, 25-17 and 25-12.

Jade St. Germaine and Rylee Weisensel led the Knights to a first-game win with eight combined kills and only one error on 13 attacks.

The Yellow Jackets came back to win the second set 25-19, and the two teams went back and forth in the important third game to see who would take a 2-1 lead. The two teams were tied 16-16 late in the set, but the Yellow Jackets scored nine of the final ten points to take the set and the lead in the match.

UWS took a big early lead in the fourth set, and the Knights were never able to recover to force a fifth set.

St. Germaine finished with 14 kills to lead MLC, while Weisensel hit .455 for the match with six kills. 

Taylor Weber led the Knights with nine digs.

MLC fell to 1-10 on the season in defeat. UNW improved to 5-5, while UWS improved to 8-4 with the win.

The Knights will return for day two of the tournament tomorrow (Saturday, September 19), when they face Minnesota Morris at 11 a.m.. MLC will also play St. Scholastica at 1 p.m.