Marshall, Minn. - The University of Jamestown women's volleyball team tested one of the top teams in the country on the road but ultimately fell in four sets to the No. 12 Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs Friday night in the PE Gym.
The Jimmies suffer their second-straight defeat to move to 13-5 and 6-4 in the NSIC ahead of their match against Sioux Falls Saturday. The Mustangs improve to 14-3 and 8-2 in the Northern Sun.
It was a set of scoring runs to begin the first set. Jamestown got five straight points capped by two kills from Caroline Puetz, but then the Mustangs scored six in a row to gain a lead. The Jimmies responded with three straight points, including back-to-back aces by Momoka Minamiya, though SMSU went up big after scoring eight of the next nine points to make the set 14-9.
The Mustangs later went on a 7-0 run to move ahead 21-11, a stark contrast to trailing by five early on. Kallyn Grove had two kills late in the set, but the Mustangs emerged victorious 25-16 in set one.
SMSU attacked .206 (12-5-34) in that first set, also getting four blocks to hold Jamestown to a meager .024 (8-7-42).
The second set began with several ties and lead changes, although with the home team leading 9-8, the Jimmies scored nine of the next 11 points. Gracie Adamson had three kills in this span as Jamestown got itself a big 17-11 advantage.
UJ's lead was at 23-20, but then four straight points by the Mustangs put set two in jeopardy for the Jimmies. However, Puetz kept the set alive with a kill to tie the game at 24, then Kate Wiebesiek posted a service ace, and this was followed by an attacking error on SMSU which sealed the set for the Jimmies 26-24 in extended points.
Jamestown recorded their highest attacking percentage of the match in the second set (17-7-40) while the Mustangs were at their lowest of .175 (13-6-40).
After some evenly matched volleyball to start the third set, the Jimmies were on the wrong side of a 9-3 run that put the host team ahead 17-12. Later though, Jamestown tied it up 19 after Grove and Kyleigh Schopp each posted two kills and a block assist.
Not long after, and the Jimmies were in front again after an attacking error made it 22-21. The score was later tied at 25 and the set expanded beyond the usual 25 points for the second straight set. However, this one went against UJ as Lindsay Kruse had back-to-back kills for the Mustangs as SMSU won a critical third set 27-25.
The Mustangs attacked .227 (18-8-44) in the third set while the Jimmies were at .175 (14-7-40).
Needing another set win to extend the match, Jamestown was able to hang with the Mustangs for the early part of the fourth set. The score was tied at 10 apiece with Adamson getting two kills early.
Unfortunately, though, the Mustangs used several tiny runs to slowly sink the Jimmies. Jamestown only scored back-to-back points one more time in the set. SMSU pulled ahead 19-14, then won 25-17 as the match ended with a four-set defeat in Marshall.
Adamson was the only Jimmies in double figures as she posted 11 kills, while also recording 12 digs. This was the senior's ninth double-double of the season and fifth in the last six games. Grove had a solid night with nine kills on .269 attacking (9-2-26). Lempka had eight kills and five blocks while Schopp paced the Jamestown net-front defense with six blocks.
Sophie Ketterling had 22 digs and Minamiya got a career-high four service aces. Wiebesiek set up the Jamestown attackers with 16 assists while Ava Bertsch had 15.
SMSU beat out the Jimmies pretty good in attacking percentage with the Mustangs at .210 (60-26-162) for the match while holding the visitors to .123 (47-27-162). Southwest Minnesota State also won other major categories including aces (8-7), blocks (13-11), and digs (83-63).
Jamestown will look for a bounce back win against the University of Sioux Falls tomorrow, October 10 at 4 p.m.
