Jamestown, N.D. - The University of Jamestown women's volleyball team got complete performances all around as they beat the University of Mary in commanding
fashion 3-0 Tuesday night in their return to Harold Newman Arena.
The Jimmies move ahead to 16-8 and 9-7 in the NSIC. With favorable results around the conference, Jamestown moved from outside the playoff field to a tie for seventh following the eight matches around the conference. The Marauders fall to 4-20 and 2-14 in the Northern Sun.
Tiahna Wald single handedly carried all three sets, which started with a dominating 25-11 set win to begin things. Momoka Minamiya and the Jimmies went on a 7-0 early after UMary scored the first point of the set. Minamiya had two service aces and Charlotte Lempka led the attacking with two kills during this run. After this, Gracie Adamson got into the swing of things with three kills to push UJ up 14-7.
Jamestown was lights out late as they concluded the first set on an 11-3 run. Caroline Puetz had three kills and Minamiya added two more services aces through this span. Adamson slammed home a kill for the set point with the Jimmies getting a 14-point margin of victory in the first set.
UJ attacked .367 (13-2-30) in the first set which was coupled with four service aces and two blocks as well. The Marauders had trouble solving the Jamestown defense has they were an even 0 (7-7-29).
The second set was a bit tighter to start things off, but with the score at 5-4, Jamestown rattled off eight of the next nine points. Kyleigh Schopp had a stretch where for three straight UJ points, she had a kill then two block assists to help the Jimmies grab a 13-5 advantage.
Schopp had another block assist alongside Puetz for the 20th point, then Adamson dropped a kill for the 22nd point to finish a 6-1 run from Jamestown as they went in front 22-9. Addison Ertz had a kill later, and an attack error from UMary finished off the second set at 25-13.
Blocking numbers were seriously impressive for one of the top blocking teams in the NSIC as they had six in the second set to send the Marauders into a negative attacking percentage at -.067 (7-9-29). The Jimmies were great again at .290 (13-4-31) in the match's middle set.
Early on in the third set, Lempka had back-to-back kills and then an attack error by UMary sent UJ ahead 10-6. A bit later, a 7-2 run paced by Adamson's two kills and a block put Jamestown up 17-10.
The last set wrapped up with five straight points from the Jimmies. Ertz tallied two kills in this run and Kallyn Grove had a kill while Lempka finished off a great night with one of her most powerful kills right in the center of the UMary side of the court. Jamestown swept the Marauders with a 25-14 set three victory.
UJ added four more blocks and two service aces in the game's final set. The Jimmies notched a .314 (14-3-35) attacking percentage while the Marauders hit .108 (10-6-37).
Lempka, who had 13 kills in the first matchup against UMary, had a couple fewer at 11 in the home contest but hit an extremely impressive .563 (11-2-16). This was the second-highest attacking percentage of her career among matches in which she had double-digit kill numbers. She also notched six blocks as well.
Adamson logged nine kills as well as 13 digs while Puetz had a nice night with seven kills, a .429 (7-1-14) attacking percentage, and six blocks. Ava Bertsch commanded the hitters with 17 set assists and Kate Wiebesiek finished with 12 assists. Minamiya posted a career-high five service aces and also got her first kill of the season in the three-set win. On the backline, Sophie Ketterling put together 14 digs.
The complete performance all around led the Jimmies to some of their strongest team numbers so far on the season. The .323 (40-9-96) attacking percentage was tied for the third highest all season and only nine attacking errors was their third lowest. Their 12.5 team blocks were the most among three-set matches also.
The Jimmies will look to keep rolling as they host No. 19 Minnesota Duluth in their penultimate home match on Friday, October 30 at 6 p.m.
