Coming out of a weekend with four match losses, each one a 3-0 sweep, you might not expect to hear this: “We were fantastic in spots this weekend.”
Those words came from head coach Chad Braegelmann who, despite the tough losses, had only positive things to say about his team after the St. Benedict’s tournament.
On the first day, the Cougars lost to
Hamline and St. Kate's.
The Saturday matches included St. Olaf’s and tournament host, St. Ben’s.
Against the Oles, Morris tried a few different lineups but “played flat” in stretches, falling behind early in games, unable to catch up. It’s an issue that Braegelmann and his team continue to struggle with. “We’re still looking to find consistent effort. We let our intensity and work drag a bit and then we have to come back.”
The Oles took the match 25-16, 25-15, 25-18. Kim Smisek led them with 13 kills in the match.
The Cougars were paced Jordan Olerud with nine kills and Natalie Thomas who had 21 assists.
The afternoon match paired the Cougars against St. Benedict, a nationally-ranked division III team filled junior and senior players.
In the first two sets, the Cougars played the Blazers tightly, dropping the first match 25-22 and the second 26-24. Within these sets Braegelmann saw “the best volleyball we’ve played in the last year and a half.”
“We were competitive with St. Ben’s and gave ourselves a chance to win at the end. That’s the best you can hope for.”
In the second set, the Cougars scored 20 of their 24 points on serve, which not only underscores their excellent play, but also demonstrates how good St. Ben’s was in the set, giving away only four points to UMM.
Lindsay Jacobson was named to the all-tournament team for her standout defensive play. Braegelmann also singled out Olerud, and fellow junior college transfer, Megan Theis for their excellent play.
Box Score against St. Olaf
Box Score against St. Ben's
Moving into conference play this week with a 4-8 record, Braegelmann put things in perspective for his team. “We’re going to work harder and the harder you work the better you play, the more luck you end up having. Of course we’re not happy being oh for the weekend, but we saw some really good play out of our team.”
The volleyball team plays North Central University and NAIA-opponent Waldorf this Tuesday. Next weekend they host Northwestern College, Crown College and Trinity Bible College.
