SUPERIOR, Wis. – The UW-Stout Blue Devils (8-3, 0-1 WIAC) opened the Stinger Classic hosted by UW-Superior with a dominant performance on Friday, sweeping their two matches against St. Scholastica and Knox College.
Stout opened the day with a gritty 3-1 victory over the Saints of St. Scholastica (6-4). The Blue Devils secured the first two sets in a pair of hard-fought battles, winning 26-24 and 25-22. St. Scholastica responded with a 25-15 victory in the third set, but the Blue Devils rallied to take the fourth set 25-23 and close out the match.
The Stout attack was led by a pair of strong performances from sophomore outside hitter
Brooke McCune and junior middle
Emma Barton. McCune finished with a team-high 13 kills and added 13 digs, while Barton added 12 kills (.440 hitting %).
Lainey Todd had 27 assists and
Nadia Marchionda added 15. Defensively, the Blue Devils were anchored by libero
Kailey Kline, who racked up a match-high 19 digs, and
Maja Anderson added 12.
In their second match of the day, the Blue Devils returned to the court to face the Prairie Fire of Knox College (0-13) and delivered a convincing 3-0 sweep. Stout wasted no time asserting control, winning the first set 25-8, before closing out the match with a pair of 25-23 victories.
Rio Beaulieu led the way with 10 kills on .350 hitting, and
Viv Heidt added six kills and a block. Todd and Marchionda each had 11 assists to lead the offense,
Hailee Gyger added seven. On defense,
Taylor Mosher posted a career-high 15 digs, with Kline and Marchionda added 10 each. Stout limited Knox to a .076 hitting percentage in the win.
Stout will return to the Mertz Mortorelli Gym on Saturday, Sept. 20 for the second day of the Stinger Classic, where they will face the host Yellowjackets of UW-Superior and Concordia College (Minn.).
