The Presentation College volleyball squad dropped its first two matches on Friday in the Macalester College Invitational.
The host team from Macalester beat the Saints 25-21, 25-21, 12-25, 25-16 and the University of Wisconsin-Superior followed suit with a 25-11, 25-15, 25-21 win.
Presentation started strong the first match against the home team and showed off some new defensive sets.
"I was really happy with how we came out," said Presentation coach Chelsey Albrecht. "We were ready to go. We inputted a few new defensive things. I'm happy with the way we executed. I'm happy with the way we responded. We had a lot of missed serves and unforced errors."
Albrecht noted that Macalester had a good right side hitter who was hard for the Saints to stop. Presentation won the third set, but Macalester's good hitter led the team to a win in the fourth set.
Against Wisconsin-Superior, Presentation College improved each set, but blocking was a problem for the Saints.
"Superior is a good team. Their outside hitters are very good. They can use anybody to hit at the net, so we struggled blocking. Their hitters did a nice job of making our blockers commit. They served more aggressively and we struggled to get in system," said Albrecht.
Kelli Boekelheide racked up 11 kills in the first match and five in the second. Tina Boldt totaled 24 digs in the two matches and Mo Bunney handed out 36 set assists.
Presentation continues competition in the Macalester Invitational today by playing the University of Dubuque (Iowa) at 10 a.m. and Carleton College at noon. The Saints lost to Dubuque earlier this season in four sets.
|Macalester College def. Presentation College|
|25-21, 25-21, 12-25, 25-16|
Serving: PC (Carly Fuhrman 2 aces, Kendra Ostrom 2 aces).
Hitting: PC (Kelli Boekelheide 11 kills, Megan Goedert 11 kills).
Setting: PC (Mo Bunney 23 assists).
Digs: PC (Tina Boldt 14).
Blocks: PC (Fuhrman 1 solo 4 assists).
|Wisconsin-Superior def. Presentation College|
|25-11, 25-15, 25-21|
Serving: PC (Megan Goedert 2 aces).
Hitting: PC (Goedert 6 kills, Kendra Ostrom 6 kills, Kelli Boekelheide 5 kills).
Setting: PC (Mo Bunney 13 assists).
Digs: PC (Tina Boldt 10).
Blocks: PC (Meg Martin 1, Bunney 1).