New Ulm, MN - The MLC volleyball team had a quick turnaround from its exciting sweep over Crown last night, when they hosted Minnesota Morris in the afternoon on Saturday. MLC hung around for much of the contest and won the second set, but the Cougars proved to have too much depth and defeated the Knights in four sets 3-1 (25-11, 25-22, 25-13, 25-17)

MLC traded points with Minnesota Morris to begin the opening set, but then the Cougars settled in and went on an impressive 15-3 run to take the set comfortably. Minnesota Morris was efficient on the attack, ending the set with a .438 hitting percentage on 15 kills and just one error.

The Knights took advantage of the Cougars changing up its rotation in the second set and edged out Minnesota Morris for a 3-point win. The Knights forced eight Cougars' miscues to help their cause.

From there, Minnesota Morris bounced back to claim the third set handily with 14-5 advantage in kills in the set. In the fourth set, the Cougars recorded five service aces to give them an extra lift, while also committing one error again. The Knights wouldn't quit though and made Minnesota Morris earn every point before the final serve of the match.

Clara Holden set her teammates up well throughout the entirety of the match, finishing with 30 assists. Ella Johnson (14) and Mary Cate Ziembiec (10) led the Cougars in kills, while Ziembiec also had a team-high in service aces (5).

MLC had two players record double-digit assist totals as Ella Walz (13) and Kourtney Zech (10) led the way for the Knights. Lydia Feidt (17), Anna Kieselhorst (10), and Greta Nolte delivered in the digs category and Nolte also had a good match on the attack, leading her squad with 10 kills.

Despite the loss, MLC showed some improvement on the court and will shift its attention over to UW-Superior for a match next Saturday, October 4, at 1 p.m.