ALPENA, MI – The Bay College Volleyball Team (7-6, 1-0 MCCAA) came out swinging in their conference opener, downing the Alpena Lumberjacks (1-6, 0-1 MCCAA) in three straight sets by scores of 25-19, 25-11, and 25-15.  It came on the same day the Norse found out that Tori Jandt (SO, Peshtigo, WI) was named the MCCAA Northern Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the week of September 4 through September 10.

Bay kept the pressure on their host all evening long with a strong attack and very few errors at the net.  They finished each set near or above a .200 attack percentage, ending with a .218 for the match.  The Norse also had zero ball handling errors and cut down on serving and receiving errors, something that has troubled them the past few matches.

After losing all three matches against Alpena last season, Bay picked up there first win in program history back on August 27, a 2-1 victory in a tense, back-and-forth match.  This one had a different feel, however, as the Lumberjacks committed 19 attack errors, ten receiving errors, and eight serving errors in the match.  Alpena only had a positive attack percentage in the first set. 

"I think the biggest difference for us was for finding a way to keep the momentum," Bay College Head Coach Dan Porath said.  "We've been giving ourselves self-inflicted trouble.  We get the momentum, and then we give it back to teams by making our own errors.  Today, we really minimized those errors, and were able to keep the momentum instead of just giving it back."

Kylee Tadisch (SO, Coleman, WI) was the offensive leader, putting down seven kills and had a .286 kill percentage.  She also had four blocks.  Tianna Taylor (SO, Gwinn, MI) was efficient with her attack, and was credited with five kills in 12 attempts, with no errors, good for a .417 attack percentage.  Piper Monroe (FR, Menominee, MI) also had five kills and no errors, good enough for a .333 attack percentage.  Olyvia Saxton (FR, Ithaca, MI) finished her night with five kills, four aces, and four blocks.

Jandt ended up with 25 digs in the match, backing up her Defensive Player of the Week Award.  She also had five aces from the serving line.  Wednesday marked the second time this season that Jandt was awarded DPOW, after bringing in the honor three times in her freshman season. 

"She's been great for two years now," Porath said of Jandt.  "I'm not surprised with what she's been doing. She puts herself in great positions, and her serving gets our offense going as well."

The Norse will host their first conference game of the year on Saturday when they welcome Delta College to the Bay College Gymnasium.  Delta is off to a 5-0 start overall and it will be their first conference match of the season as they drew the bye on Wednesday evening.  That match is scheduled for a 11:30 am start.