UW-Stout 3, Minnesota-Morris 2 | Photo Gallery
MENOMONIE (October 20, 2017) - It was the "Night of the Long Rallies" for the UW-Stout and Minnesota-Morris volleyball teams, but it was the Blue Devils that had the key rally - sparked by senior
Ashley Pratt (Lakeville, Minn) on Senior Night - to down the Cougars, 25-22, 20-25, 20-25, 25-23, 15-11, Friday at Johnson Fieldhouse.
The Blue Devils (9-17) won the first set, but the Cougars (23-7) rallied to win the next two sets and take a 2-1 lead. The teams stayed close in the fourth set, and
Kennedy Strain (Jr, Elk River, Minn) had back-to-back kills to give Stout a 24-23 lead. An attack error by Morris knotted the match at two games apiece.
And it looked like the Cougars, who are trying to stay in contention for at least an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament, were going to run away with the fifth set, jumping out to a 10-6 lead.
A Morris attack error and a big-time kill by
Summer Garr (So, Rush City, Minn) pulled Stout to within 10-8. And then the senior, Pratt, took the match into her own hands in Stout's final regular season home game. The 6-foot middle hitter recorded six kills, including the final three kills of the match, in the 9-1 run.
Pratt wasn't the only player to have a big night. Strain finished with a season-best 20 kills, two shy of her own career-best, hitting at a .439 clip, committing only two errors. Setter Jessica Duval (So, Logan, Iowa) set up a career-best 55 assists.
Amber Ripley (Fr, Farmington, Minn) contributed 13 kills.
But it was the back-row players that made the long rallies happen. Stout's
Steph Cannon (So, Mora, Minn) had a career-best 44 digs, four digs shy of Casey Huntoon's match record of 48 set in 2007.
Emily Makina (So, Orland Park, Ill) had 14 digs, DuVal had 12 and
Carissa Hilgers (Jr, Minnetonka, Minn) added 10.
The Cougars' Katie Rietsma topped Cannon, digging out 49 attacks. Marissa Ekness led UM-Morris with 17 kills. Rachel Mathias had 14 and Morgan Miller tallied 12.
The Blue Devils also found gold at the service line, dropping in a season-high 14 aces, the most by the team since recording 17 against Loras College on Sept. 28, 2012. Garr and Cannon each produced four aces and Ripley had three.
Stout is off until they close out conference action next week, traveling to UW-Eau Claire, Wednesday, Oct. 25, and at UW-Oshkosh, Saturday, Oct. 28.
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