RIVER FALLS - The UW-Eau Claire volleyball team won both games on the first day of the UW-River Falls Trick or Treat Tournament as it narrowly defeated St. Thomas in the first match and then beat UW-Stout in the second one.

It took five games for the Blugolds to beat St. Thomas, with the scores being 30-14, 24-30, 30-16, 29-31, and 15-13. They then went on to sweep Stout 30-24, 30-25, and 30-21.

Eau Claire came out strong with a .467 first game but the numbers fell off in the last four in match one. St. Thomas hit -.056 in game one but improved in the final four. Against Stout the Blugolds hit .235, .200, and .139. The defense was superb and held the Blue Devils to -.028, .073, and -.227.

With 21 kills, Molly Menard (Sr.-Eau Claire/Memorial) led Eau Claire in kills for the first harrowing match. Carly Freiborg (Jr.-Sacred Heart, MN/Renville County West) had 53 assists while sister Abby Freiborg (Fr.-Sacred Heart, MN/Renville County West) led the team with 24 digs. There were 14.0 total team blocks. Ashley Danielson (Jr.-Cadott) and Jessica Groh (Jr.-Eau Claire/North) contributed six blocking assists per person.

Menard led in kills during the second match as well, this time collecting 12. Jenny Wolter (Sr.-Osceola) had 11. Carly Freiborg put together 33 assists. With 10 digs, Shanna Berger (Jr.-Baldwin/Baldwin-Woodville) was the team leader. Danielson managed 7 blocking assists against Stout.

The Blugolds take the floor again tomorrow to finish up the event. Matches are at noon and 2:00 p.m. This will mark the last regular season event for volleyball. The first postseason matchup is against Stout on Tuesday.

Day One Results

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