ST. PAUL, Minn. – The UW-River Falls volleyball wrapped up its weekend competition at the University of Northwestern's Kathryne Pals Legacy Invitational on Saturday afternoon, falling 3-1 to both Bethel University and Northwestern.
UWRF returns to action next weekend hosting the Falcon Invite at Page Arena. The Falcons host Simpson College at 1 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5 for their home opener and first of four matches on the weekend.
Bethel 3, UW-River Falls 1
In the Falcons' second of three matches on the weekend on the campus of Northwestern, they fell in four sets against the Royals (18-25, 25-16, 19-25, 18-25).
While the Royals edged the Falcons in kills, assists, and digs, UWRF managed to total more aces and blocks with seven service aces and five blocks - including three aces from
Amanda Baumann.
Bethel executed at a slightly higher hitting percentage of .207 compared to UWRF's .156. A bright spot for the Falcons was the second set, where they hit nearly 40 percent with 14 kills and just four errors, tying the match at 1-1 with a 25-16 set win.
Blessing Adebisi was solid at the net, leading the team with 11 kills and four blocks. Cora Sayotovich had a team-high 34 assists and shared the team lead with Audrey Petersen with 15 digs each.
Northwestern 3, UW-River Falls 1
The Falcons took on the host Eagles in their final match of the weekend, and similar to its previous match, they fell in four sets (17-25, 25-20, 16-25, 17-25) but were strong in set number two. UNW received votes in the AVCA Division III Preseason Poll.
While the Eagles held the Falcons to a .093 hitting percentage, UWRF stood out in the second frame with 16 kills at a .353 hitting efficiency, forcing eight UNW errors. After the Falcons and Eagles were back-and-forth, UWRF closed out the set on a 5-2 run to tie the match at 1-1.
Northwestern hit .321 in the third set and .206 in the fourth while the Falcons struggled with a combined 19 errors.
Lauren Noth led the attack with 14 kills while
Cora Sayotovich 33 assists.
Audrey Petersen led the defense with a weekend-high 22 digs. Noth, who totaled 39 kills through three matches on the weekend, was named to the All-Tournament Team.
