MORRIS, Minn. - The Martin Luther College volleyball team split its two matches on day one of the UMAC Preview Tournament on Friday at Minnesota Morris, defeating UW-Superior 3-2 (20-25, 25-18, 25-22, 21-25, 15-10), but losing 3-0 to St. Scholastica (25-13, 25-22, 25-15).

The UMAC Preview Tournament features the top five teams from last season in conference play, with each team playing a round robin against the others. All four matches in the tournament are non-conference matches. 

MLC 3, UWS 2

The Knights opened the tournament with a five-set win over UW-Superior by the scores of 20-25, 25-18, 25-22, 21-25 and 15-10.

Trailing 1-0 in the match, MLC took control by winning the second and third sets before the Yellowjackets battled back to force a fifth and deciding game.

In the final set, the Knights dominated on the attack, recording nine kills against zero errors and hitting .375 on the way to the win.

Kira Grev was the top MLC hitter with 20 kills to go with 20 digs and two service aces. Jade St. Germaine also had a strong match, recording 15 kills and hitting .308, while Grace Schultz added seven kills.

Emily Neeb was strong in the back row with a season-high 27 digs and four aces. Emily Byhardt and Heidi Moldenhauer finished with 22 and 19 assists, respectively.

CSS 3, MLC 0

Perhaps feeling the effects of the first match that went five sets, the Knights were unable to slow down St. Scholastica in a 3-0 defeat in the second match by the scores of 25-13, 25-22 and 25-15.

The Saints were strong on the attack the entire match, hitting .344 while holding MLC to an attack percentage of .071.

CSS hit .419 on the way to a first set win, and then took the second set with a strong rally to close after the two teams were tied 16-16 coming down the stretch. The Saints then used that momentum to race to a big early lead in set three on the way to the sweep.

St. Germaine (11 kills) and Grev (eight kills) hit .194 and .217, respectively, but MLC was unable to get any other players going on the attack in the match.

Byhardt led the team with 14 assists, while Neeb finished with nine digs.

The Knights moved to 4-8 on the season with the split, and will return to action for day two at the tournament with a pair of matches against Northwestern (1 p.m.) and Minnesota Morris (3 p.m.).