The UW-Eau Claire volleyball team started the 2003 season strong with four-game victories over both Hamline University and the University of Minnesota-Morris.

The Blugolds opened up the tri-meet with a victory over the Cougars of Minnesota-Morris.

The opening game saw Eau Claire play their best ball with 21 kills to only five errors for a .364 hitting percentage en route to a 30-23 win.

After dropping the second game the Blugolds fired back with a 30-22 win in the third game. The match concluded after the Eau Claire won a back-and-forth final game 30-28.

Brooke Wozniak-Schmidt (Sr.-Stanley/Stanley-Boyd) led the Blugolds against the Cougars with a .583 hitting percentage with 16 kills. Becca Carstensen (Jr.-Eau Claire/Memorial) led Eau Claire in kills with 18.

Carly Freiborg (Fr.-Sacred Heart, MN/Renville County West) made a solid Blugold debut with a team-high 33 assists. Annie Kabat (Sr.-Greenleaf/Wrightstown) led Eau Claire with 19 digs while Jess Menzel (Jr.-Green Bay/Preble) led in service aces with four.

In the night cap, Eau Claire defeated the Pipers of Hamline. The Blugolds won the first game 30-28 and followed that up with a convincing 30-14 victory in the second.

Following a hiccup in the third game which saw Eau Claire lose 30-22 the Blugolds came back to finish off the Pipers in the fourth game 30-20.

Wozniak-Schmidt led four Blugolds in double-digit kills with 23 with only three errors for a .435 hitting percentage. Kabat followed with 15 with Carstensen hitting 13 and Molly Menard (So.-Eau Claire/Memorial) contributing 11.

Amy Olson (So.-Plymouth, MN/Maple Grove) led Eau Claire in assists with 35 while Missy Malvitz (Jr.-Elkhorn) led in digs with 28.

Eau Claire will travel to Minneapolis Friday and Saturday to compete in the Augsburg Tournament. Action will start at 2 p.m. Friday.