ESCANABA, MI – The Norse Volleyball Team (3-2) beath the Minnesota North – Hibbing Cardinals (3-0) in three straight sets on Sunday afternoon. The win gave Bay a winning record on the weekend after splitting a pair of matches on Saturday.
The first set proved to be extremely one-sided. Bay collected five service aces, four of them coming from Amber Caylor (FR, Wausaukee, WI), and five different players recorded kills as the Norse cruised to a 25-8 win.
Bay grabbed the lead in the second set, but the Cardinals regrouped, challenging the home team. Nine attack errors on the Norse kept the score close, but the Bay's defensive efforts kept them on top. They tallied 26 digs in that second set, with Tori Jandt (FR, Peshtigo, WI) getting eight of them and Allie Roman (SO, Gladstone, MI) being credited with seven. Kylee Tadisch (FR, Coleman, WI) had three solo blocks as the Norse held on to win the set by a score of 25-19.
The Cardinals continued their upward trend and grabbed the momentum in the final set. Bay was forced to play from behind for the first time of the day as Hibbing led by as many as four at one point. Once again, the defensive efforts gave Bay a chance, as Jandt had ten digs in the set Leah Allan (FR, Oconto, WI) had six, all while Tadisch tallied two more solo blocks. Bay cleaned up their attack in the final set, only committing two attack errors, and were able to pounce late when the Cardinals committed some unforced errors. Hibbing would fall in the final set by a score of 25-22.
Jandt finished the afternoon with 24 digs and three aces. Allan added 15 digs.
Bay's attack was a bit more evenly balanced in the afternoon, with three different hitters seemingly taking over at times. Tadisch had the hot hand in the early going as four of her eight kills were in the first set. She also finished with six blocks. Riley Johnson (FR, Chatham, MI) was a bit more even keeled, putting down three kills in the first set, two in the second, and three more in the third for eight total. Emma Rutter (FR, Chatham, MI) also had eight kills, but she stepped up late, with five of those coming in the third set.
The Norse will take their winning record on the road next weekend and challenge themselves with three matches in southern Wisconsin. On Friday night they will go to Milwaukee Area Tech for a rematch of an opening weekend contest. On Sept. 20 the Norse got the first win in program history against the Stormers in a hard-fought battle (25-22, 25-17, 25-17).
On Saturday afternoon they head over to Madison College for a triangular. Bay faces off with the host at noon and then will challenge Dakota County Tech at 7 pm.