MANKATO, Minn.—The Northland College Lumberjills lost their opening UMAC match to the Bethany Lutheran Vikings on Saturday afternoon.  The Vikings won in straight sets by scores of 25-11, 25-18 and 25-23.  With the win the Vikings improve to 1-1 in the UMAC and 6-12 overall, while the Jills are now 6-10 on the year and 0-1 in UMAC play.

Slow starts in the opening sets doomed the Jills as the Vikings jumped out to early leads in the first two sets.  The Jills rebounded in the third set and looked poised to extend the match as they jumped out to a 17-11 lead.  The Vikings responded with a strong run of their own and tied the match at 19-19.  Both teams traded points which set up a dramatic finish with the set tied at 23-23.  The Vikings took back to back points and finished with a kill from freshman Alexis Morsching to win the set at 25-23.

Morsching led the way for the Vikings with 10 kills.  Justine Litherland led the way for the Jills with eight kills, and Emma Rusch had 20 assists on the afternoon.
The Jills are in action next against Martin Luther College at home on Saturday, October 5^th for their second UMAC match of the year.  The match is slated to begin at 3:00pm.