Jamestown, N.D. - The University of Jamestown women's volleyball team had a nice win in the first set, but then dropped three straight in a 3-1 defeat to Minnesota State University Friday night at Harold Newman Arena.
The Jimmies fall to 14-6 and 7-5 in the conference while the Mavericks get up to 8-12 and 6-6 in the conference with the win giving them a big boost to their NSIC playoff chances.
The first set was tight to begin with, though it was not super pretty with several attacking errors as both teams had trouble hitting the ball in bounds. Lempka posted three kills before the first set was knotted up at 15-15.
After this, Jamestown went on a 4-0 run which was all it took to put away the Mavericks. Kyliegh Schopp had a solo block plus a kill, Gracie Adamson landed a service ace, and Kallyn Grove got a kill as well with UJ in control of their largest lead of the match at 19-15. Later, Schopp added her third kill of the set as the 25th point and Jamestown went on to win the first set 25-22.
Both teams posted 13 kills in the first set, but nine attacking errors doomed Minnesota State in set one. The Mavericks attacked .087 (13-9-46) while UJ hit .200 (13-5-40).
Minnesota State came ready to play in the second set, and they did not let the poor attacking in set one carry over into set two. It was not a pretty start for Jamestown as they trailed 6-1 to begin with and it only got worse from there as the Mavericks later scored five straight to pull ahead 13-4.
The Jimmies got six at one point thanks to a 4-1 run highlighted by a block plus a kill from Lempka with the score at 16-10, though the deficit was just too large to overcome. Schopp nailed down a kill late, but it was Minnesota State who tied the match at 1-1 after a 25-14 set two victory.
The Mavericks posted a .333 attacking percentage (17-5-36) and also registered four blocks to push Jamestown into the negative range with an -.027 (5-6-37) attacking percentage.
The third set consisted of several ties and lead changes in what each team knew was a crucial set to win. Adamson posted two kills early on as the score was 10-10. Later, the set stood at 20-20 with Adamson leading the Jimmies with four kills in the set while Lempka and Mya Foslien had two each.
Adamson posted another kill to make to 21-21, but the wheels fell off the bus in the final points for the Jimmies. Three straight attacking errors led to a 24-21 Mavericks lead, and while a service error by the road team earned Jamestown their 22nd point, a failed serve by UJ gave Minnesota State the third set, 25-22.
The net-front presence of the Mavericks was bothersome in the third set as they recorded five team blocks, holding the Jimmies in check with an .034 (12-10-58) attacking percentage, despite only hitting .102 (13-8-49) from the winning side.
The beginning of the fourth set started great for Jamestown as initially, and it looked like there was going to be a five-set thriller in Harold Newman. UJ went on a 4-0 run early and later pushed ahead 12-9 after Addison Ertz had back-to-back kills.
However, Minnesota State got out ahead pretty handily, 16-12 after seven straight points, though Jamestown was right back in it again after four straight points made the set 18-17. Adamson continued to add to her kill total with two more while Schopp posted two block assists in this 4-0 run.
Unfortunately, though, the Mavericks rolled back out to a three-point lead, and the Orange and Black were unable to get it to a one-score game ever again. Adamson posted her 14th and 15th kills of the night while Ertz got her third kill in the final three Jamestown points with the match concluding on a Minnesota State kill to finish things off 25-21 in the fourth set.
Adamson had her sixth double-double in her past eight games with the senior leading the team in kills with 15 and also adding 10 digs, three aces, and three blocks. Lempka had nine kills on .286 attacking (9-3-21) and Schopp, already one of the top blockers in the NSIC, had six blocks to go along with five kills.
Sophie Ketterling logged 27 digs to increase her season average, which was already over five per set. Ava Bertsch was second on the team with 12 digs and first in 20 set assists.
Minnesota State's attacking percentage for the game finished at .195 (58-26-164) while Jamestown hit under .100 for only the third time this season at .086 (43-28-174). UJ was outdueled in aces (5-4), blocks (10-9), and digs (84-69) as well.
The Jimmies will have another tough test tomorrow, October 17 as they play the No. 13 St. Cloud State Huskies at 2 p.m.
