ST. JOSEPH, Minn. - The 25th-ranked UW-Eau Claire volleyball team won both matches of today's St. Ben's Tourney with a 3-0 match over Northwestern College (MN) and a 3-1 victory over Simpson College (IA).

The first Northwestern game was the closest with a 32-30 score as Eau Claire hit .022 with 15 kills and 14 errors. The team gained momentum to win 30-23 and 30-17 in the following games. The Blugolds hit .132 and then .273 in the contests.

Lissa Martinez (Sr.-Vadnais Heights, MN/White Bear Lake) led with 13 kills while Abby Freiborg (Jr.-Sacred Heart, MN/Renville County West) had 11. Emily Haese (Jr.-Mishicot) also contributed offensively with 21 assists.

The defense had six blocks and Heather Harnell (Sr.-Minnetonka, MN) led in digs with 12.

In the second game, Simpson put up more of a challenge with scores of 24-30, 33-31, 30-16, and 30-27.

The Blugolds actually hit best in the loss with a .286 mark. They then hit .184 in the nailbiting second game before cranking it up to .281 in game three. The final game saw a .059 hitting percentage as the Blugolds went to 7-3 on the year.

Freiborg easily led in kills with 19 while Haese again was tops in assists at 45. Harnell's 26 digs were most for the defense.

The St. Benedict Tourney finishes tomorrow with matches against St. Benedict (MN) at 10:30 a.m. and Buena Vista University (IA) at 12:30 p.m.

Eau Claire-Northwestern Box Score

Eau Claire-Simpson College Box Score

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