ESCANABA, MI – The Bay College Volleyball Team (5-5) was not able to keep their momentum from their first home weekend going on the road, as they were swept in straight sets by Milwaukee Area Tech on Friday night and Madison College on Saturday afternoon. They did rebound with a 3-1 victory over Dakota County Tech to round out their matches at the Madison Triangular on Saturday.
The Norse looked a bit sluggish on Friday as they fell to a team they swept back on August 20. The Stormers took the first set 25-18 in front of a raucous crowd at Alverno College, where Milwaukee Area Tech calls home. The momentum never really swung to the Norse, as the Stormers never really let up and rolled to 25-14 and 25-16 wins in the final two sets.
Errors plagued Bay as they looked flat. The road team committed five hitting errors in the first set, four in the second, and a whopping 12 in the third. The Norse also got tagged with 14 ball handling errors, six service errors, and five receiving errors.
Kylee Tadisch (FR, Coleman, WI) was a bright spot for Bay in that match as she hit with seven kills and one error on 11 attempts, good for a .545 attack percentage. Tori Jandt (FR, Peshtigo, WI) led the team with 17 digs, while Leah Allan (FR, Oconto, WI) finished with 16 digs.
On Saturday the Norse met up with a strong Madison College team that is currently ranked #13 in NJCAA Division 3. Bay cleaned up their play and hung in with the WolfPack, but fell by scores of 25-17, 25-22, and 25-20.
Riley Johnson (FR, Chatham, MI) ended up with 11 kills while Tadisch was credited with seven. Jandt and Allan led the defense again, as Jandt collected 15 digs and Allan collected ten. Amber Caylor (FR, Wausaukee, WI) finished with 28 assists and three service aces.
The Norse bounced back in the second match on Saturday. After taking the first two sets 25-19 and 25-22, the BlueKnights rallied to win the third by a final score of 25-13. Bay finished the match strong however, putting Dakota County away with a 25-22 fourth set.
It was hardly a clean match as neither team was especially efficient. DCTC finished with a paltry .051 attack percentage, only to see the Norse finish with a .030 percentage. In the end it was the Norse who made a few less missteps as Dakota County tallied 30 attack errors and ten service errors, while the Norse had 23 attack errors and seven service errors.
Johnson led the Norse with eight kills. Jandt had 15 digs and six service aces. Allan was credited with 13 digs while Alissa Sanville (FR, Gladstone, MI) ended up with 12. Caylor finished with 22 assists and nine digs.
The Norse head to Minnesota this coming weekend. There they will face Anoka-Ramsey on Friday evening. On Saturday they will partake in the Dakota County Triangular. They open with a rematch against the host team before ending their trip against Century College, who is ranked #12 in NJCAA Division 3.