RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The UW-River Falls volleyball team went 2-0 Saturday while hosting A WIAC/MIAC Quadrangular at Page Arena, sweeping Saint Benedict 3-0 before defeating St. Catherine 3-1 to improve to 10-4 overall on the season.
Across the two matches, UWRF totaled 98 kills, 145 digs and 12 service aces. Grace McDole led the Falcons with 25 kills, while Blessing Adebisi added 22 kills and hit .346 for the day. Cora Sayotovich finished with 73 assists, and Audrey Petersen recorded 36 digs.
The Falcons head back into WIAC play next Wednesday, Oct. 7 at nationally ranked UW-Eau Claire.
UW-River Falls 3, Saint Benedict 0
The Falcons opened the day with a sweep of Saint Benedict, overcoming a competitive first set before taking control offensively in the second and third sets. UWRF finished with 36 kills and a .178 hitting percentage, while limiting the Blazers to a .075 clip.
Saint Benedict held an early lead in the opening set, but UWRF battled back to claim a 25-23 victory. The Falcons then produced 12 kills in the second set while holding the Blazers to a .129 attack percentage, pulling away for a 25-16 win. UWRF closed out the sweep with a 25-23 third-set victory.
Blessing Adebisi led the Falcons with nine kills and hit .304, while Grace McDole and Ava Goldsberry each added seven kills. Emily Brenner contributed four kills, two service aces and a block, while Amanda Baumann added four kills without committing an attack error.
Cora Sayotovich directed the offense with 27 assists and added eight digs, while Audrey Petersen led UWRF defensively with 14 digs. Petersen also served four aces, and the Falcons finished with eight service aces as a team.
UW-River Falls 3, St. Catherine 1
The Falcons closed the day with a four-set victory over St. Catherine, rallying from an early setback to win three of the final four sets and finish the day unbeaten.
UWRF fell behind after St. Catherine claimed the opening set 25-19, but the Falcons responded with a 25-14 second-set victory. The third set proved to be the most competitive of the match, with UWRF edging the Wildcats 30-28 before closing out the victory with a 25-18 fourth-set win.
Grace McDole led all players with a career-high 18 kills and hit .277, while Adebisi added 13 kills on a .379 hitting percentage. Baumann recorded nine kills while hitting a team-best .500, and Brenner contributed nine kills and a pair of service aces. Goldsberry finished with eight kills.
Sayotovich directed the Falcons' offense with 46 assists while adding seven digs, and Petersen led the defensive effort with 22 digs. UWRF also received a strong performance at the net from Adebisi, who recorded three solo blocks and two block assists, while Baumann added one solo block and four block assists.
As a team, UWRF recorded 62 kills and hit .296 in the victory, committing just 15 attack errors on 159 attempts. The Falcons also finished with 72 digs and five total blocks.
