NEW ULM, Minn. – The Northland College Volleyball team dropped its first match of the weekend 0-3 to Martin Luther College in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play Friday night in New Ulm, Minn. The Jills came close in taking set two and three but were unable to score their 25^th point.
 
Start set one, both teams traded points until both teams hit double-figures. The last time the Jills had the lead in the first set was at 10-9 when Shelby Justman scored off an assist from Megan Van Gheem. Small runs pulled the Knights ahead 24-15. Northland started to chip away pulling within six getting help from a Bailey Wynn kill, but were unable to stop Martin Luther from scoring its 25^th point of the set.
 
 The Jills found themselves in the hole early in the second set, down 2-7. NC did not back down and was only down 8-9 after Alexa Zadra scored off the serve. A few attack errors by MLC tied the setup at 17 all. Another kill from Wynn gave the Jills their first lead since 1-0 at 19-18. Northland continued to benefit from attack errors go up 22-20, but the Knight scored five of the 7 last six points to go up two sets to none.
 
Starting the third set like the first with points being traded, but time the Jills went on the early run. After a pair of kills from Justman, Northland found themselves up 7-4 and continued to pull ahead. The largest lead of the set was seven for the Jills at 20-13. The Knights then would score two points for every one of the Jills cutting the lead to 23-19. Elizabeth Montgomery set up Northland at set point with a kill at 24-19, but seven unanswered points from MLC got them the match.
 
Montgomery had the best hitting percentage for the Jills at .211, scoring on six attacks out of 19 with two errors. Leading Northland attack was Wynn and Justman with nine and eight kills respectively. Off the serve, the Jills scored three aces, from Justman with two and Zadra with one. Van Gheem set up 21 of the 26 Northland points.
 
Wynn had a big night defensively as well leading the team with 11 digs. Annika Herlevi was one behind her at 10. The Jills had two solo blocks in the match, coming from Justman and Montgomery.
 
The Jills continue their road trip tomorrow as they take on Bethany Lutheran College at 1 p.m., in Mankato, Minn. The Vikings are coming off a 0-3 defeat to University of Wisconsin-Superior on Friday.
 
Northland College is an NCAA Division III institution located in Ashland, WI. The LumberJacks and LumberJills sponsor 14 varsity sports and compete in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, Midwest Lacrosse Conference, and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.