Jamestown, N.D. - The University of Jamestown women's volleyball team dropped their second four-set decision of the weekend on Saturday to the No. 13 St. Cloud State Huskies.
The Jimmies suffer their first winless week in NSIC play as they fall to 14-7 overall and 7-6 in the conference. The Huskies move to 15-6 overall and 9-4 in the NSIC.
It was a very competitive match in the first few points as the Jimmies mostly controlled a lead over one of the top teams in the country. Kallyn Grove put away a point for the Jimmies with a kill and Jamestown controlled a 15-12 advantage in the opening set.
SCSU responded with a 6-1 run, though, and got ahead 18-16 for their first multi-point lead of the match. However, UJ got back in front 21-20 after a block from Kyleigh Schopp and Caroline Puetz. This was not followed by success, unfortunately, and the Huskies scored five of the final six points to take set one 25-22.
St. Cloud State had a few more kills and attacked a bit better with their percentage at .184 (14-7-38) while Jamestown was .068 (11-8-44).
The second set was a struggle for the Jimmies in more ways than one. They fell behind 9-2 early and a bit later 13-4. Puetz and Charlotte Lempka had a couple of kills, but the Huskies pulled ahead 19-9 with UJ seeking a big run, but failing to generate much momentum.
It was even play beyond this point in the set, with each team scoring six more times. Lempka and Mya Foslien accounted for two kills each in the final few points with the Huskies looking dominant in the second set winning 25-15.
SCSU doubled up the Jimmies in kills, had four service aces, and attacked .300 (14-5-30) in set two. Jamestown posted an attacking percentage of .061 (7-5-33) during the second set.
Between the second and third sets, Addison Brooke and Corbyn Menz fired up the team, with their energy and presence felt during all 25 points in what turned out to be one of the best sets UJ had all season.
The Jimmies got ahead early 6-1 after Ava Bertsch and Momoka Minamiya helped with two service aces while Gracie Adamson and Lempka added kills. The Huskies got the set to 10-8, but a 4-0 run from the home side ensued, consisting of an in which Kallyn Grove and Schopp teamed up for a block, a Schopp service ace, and a Grove kill for a 14-8 advantage.
The top 15 team in the country made it tough for the Jimmies as they got it to 15-13, but Jamestown's command of the set was on full display after this. SCSU could not even get the ball on the opposite side of the net as the Jimmies blocked three of the next four points. Lempka participated in all three of these blocks while Puetz had two block assists and Addison Ertz one. After one more SCSU point, another 4-0 spurt by the Jimmies occurred, this time Schopp getting in on the blocking fun with a block assist as well as a kill with Jamestown getting in front 23-14.
Adamson landed a kill as the 24th point and Schopp got the 25th point in a set three that resulted in a double-digit margin 25-15 set victory for Jamestown. Five blocks and four service aces gave the Orange and Black all they needed in the win despite only attacking .132 (10-5-38). The Huskies dipped into the negatives as they hit -.050 (8-10-40).
Jamestown fell behind 10-6 in the fourth set, but the Jimmies went on a monster 9-1 run which gave them a 15-11 advantage. Schopp added to her already fantastic night with two aces, one kill, and a block assist through this run.
The Huskies battled back though, getting a lead at 19-18, and later 20-19. With the contest knotted at 21-21, an SCSU service error and a block by Schopp and Grove made the set 23-21 in favor of the Jimmies. However, in a similar manner to yesterday, UJ failed to finish off the set. Four consecutive kills from St. Cloud State sent Jamestown to a 25-23 set defeat to cap off the match.
Schopp posted a career-high 10 block assists in the effort in addition to her seven kills and three service aces. Schopp joins Ella Walker out of Sioux Falls as the only players in NSIC to record double-digit blocks in match this season. Lempka paced Jamestown with nine kills on .381 attacking (9-1-21) while Adamson posted seven kills and 14 digs. Puetz tied a season-high with seven block assists.
The Huskies had an attacking percentage of .157 (52-28-153) in the contest while finished at .101 (39-23-158). Nine service aces for the Jimmies were the third-highest all season, while 15 blocks as a team were the most in a match since 2023.
The Jimmies will look to get back in the win column as they head back on the road next weekend to play Winona State University and Concordia St. Paul.
