Kenosha, Wis. – The University of Jamestown women's volleyball team split their two matches at the Hampton Inn Invitational Friday, taking down Purdue University Northwest in their first game, but suffering their first loss of the season in five sets to the University of Wisconsin Parkside.
Game 1: Jamestown 3, Purdue Northwest 1 (25-17, 25-13, 21-25, 25-18)
The Jimmies surrendered the first three points of the first set, but used a few mini-spurts to grab a 12-8 lead. With the game at 12-9, UJ had a monster 8-0 scoring run, which included two services aces by
Ava Bertsch and one kill each by
Gracie Adamson and
Mya Foslien.
Trailing 20-9, Purdue Northwest scored five of the next seven points, but the Jimmies were never in any danger of losing the first set after their eight-straight points.
Caroline Puetz had two kills as part of the final five Jamestown points, and UJ took set one 25-17.
The hitting was monstrous for UJ with the attacking percentage at .441 (17-2-34) while the Lions were at .176 (10-4-34).
The Jimmies had an even better performance in the second set, getting ahead 7-4 and then later 12-7 with four straight points and kills by
Kallyn Grove,
Charlotte Lempka, and
Addison Ertz.
The Jimmies held their ground throughout the second set, with Purdue Northwest only scoring back-to-back points on two occasions. With the game at 20-13, UJ scored the final five points thanks to a service error, and two kills each by Ertz and Grove.
Offensive numbers were great once again in the second set with a .359 attacking percentage (17-3-39) and holding the Lions to just .086 (8-5-35).
Purdue Northwest got off on the right foot to begin the third set with a 6-1 advantage, but
Addison Brooke had three kills early on to push the Jimmies to within one, 8-7.
The rest of the set was tightly contested with Purdue Northwest holding between a one to three point lead for most of the middle stages of the set. However, with the set at 20-19 in favor of the Lions, five of the next seven points belonged to the Purdue Northwest with set three ending with a score of 25-21 and the Jimmies failing to sweep.
The Lions drastically improved offensively compared to the first two sets as they attacked .250 (13-4-36) while Jamestown was slightly under that at .237 (14-5-38).
In the final set, Puetz and Lempka combined for three kills as part of the first five points with UJ getting ahead 5-1. The two sides matched each other for a few points, but with the score at 13-9, the Jimmies scored four straight to take control of the final set 17-9.
Purdue Northwest did not go down quietly however, and battled to within four at 22-18, but
Kate Wiebesiek had a kill as the 23
rd point, Bertsch scored a service ace, and then match point was slammed home by Adamson as the Jimmies won the match with a 25-18 set four victory.
Puetz led the Jamestown attack with 13 kills and a .417 percentage (13-3-24) while also contributing three blocks on defense. Adamson had 13 kills and eight digs while Lempka hit .583 (8-1-12) and pitched in with six blocks.
Sophie Ketterling had 22 digs, and Bertsch played her best match of the season with 28 assists, 10 digs, and four service aces.
The Jimmies hit .322 for the match (63-15-149), surpassing the .300 mark for the second time in the season, a mark they only achieved twice in 2025. UJ also set season-bests in kills (63), assists (58), and total blocks (11).
Game 2: UW Parkside 3, Jamestown 2 (23-25, 25-16, 25-22, 16-25, 7-15)
In the opening set against the tournament hosts, the Jimmies were able to score seven of the first 10 points with Brooke and Lempka earning kills. However, not long after, Parkside went on a 6-0 run and brought themselves into a three-point advantage at 13-10.
A Bertsch service ace brought the game to 13 all, and then Puetz later had a kill and a solo block to bring the Jimmies ahead 18-16. The Rangers called a timeout and regrouped by tying the game at 19-19.
The barnburner of a set continued with both teams knotted at 23, but Parkside took the first set after a kill and an error put the Jimmies away 25-23.
The Jimmies were lucky to be so competitive in the set as they hit -.029 (8-9-34) compared to the Rangers .182 (13-7-33).
Down a set for the first time all season, the Jimmies had quite a response in set number two. Puetz had a pair of kills early on to get UJ ahead 10-3.
Parkside got it to 14-10, but that was the closest it ever became from that point on. Jamestown put on a 10-2 run to the home team to double them up 24-12. It took a while for the 2022 NAIA National Champions to put the set away, but an attack error several points later tied the match 1-1 with a 25-16 set win for UJ.
The Jimmies drastically increased their attacking percentage in the second set, hitting .229 (12-4-35) while the Rangers struggled at .049 (10-8-41).
A crucial third set did not begin well for Jamestown with Parkside going up 7-2. Although slowly the Jimmies made their way back into the game, knotting the contest up 10-10, then later going on a 6-1 scoring run to make it 18-14. Adamson took over in this spurt with three kills.
UJ made it 23-17, but the Rangers cut it to 23-21, forcing a timeout out of head coach
Jon Hegerle. The Jimmies set up Lempka twice in the closing points, and the senior had two kills for the 24
th and 25
th points as UJ took the third set 25-22.
Jamestown significantly outhit Parkside in the third set .333 (14-4-30) to .152 (13-8-33).
The beginning of the fourth set was about as tight as can possibly be. Neither team scored more than three straight points nor did either team control more than a two-point lead early on.
The Jimmies ran into some trouble after allowing five straight Parkside points as UJ now faced their largest deficit of the set at 16-13. Adamson later had a kill and Puetz had a kill plus a solo block to bring the game to 19-16 in favor of the home team.
However, Parkside got the next two points and even after a timeout, the Rangers could not be stopped scoring four more points in a row to take the fourth set 25-16.
Parkside hit .184 (13-6-38) in the fourth set while the Jimmies had a tough time at .023 (9-8-44).
The fifth set started out alright for Jamestown with Adamson and Foslien getting two kills as the set began at 4-4. However, the Rangers went on a 5-0 run and an extended 9-1 run to go up 13-5.
Only a service error and a bad set resulted in two more UJ points with the Jimmies struggling to find answers in the fifth set. Parkside handed Jamestown their first loss of the season with a 15-7 win in set number five.
Adamson led the Jamestown attack with 14 kills and was active defensively as well with 10 digs and two blocks. Puetz and Lempka had eight kills each with Puetz logging four blocks and Lempka with three blocks to go along with a .467 (8-1-15) attacking percentage. Ketterling had 23 digs across the five sets, while Wiebesiek had 16 assists and 10 digs. Bertsch led the Jimmies with 20 assists.
Neither team hit great with Parkside at .179 (59-30-162) and Jamestown hitting a season-worst .131 (46-25-160). The Rangers had a significant edge in digs (83-64) while UJ had slightly more blocks (10-7).
Jamestown will have two more high-quality opponents in day two of the Hampton Inn Invitational tomorrow as they play Nova Southeastern University at 10 a.m., then Hillsdale College at noon.
