ASHLAND, Wis. – The Northland College Volleyball team fought hard in its first home match falling 1-3(22-25, 22-25, 25-21, 16-25) to the University of Wisconsin-Superior, Tuesday night in Ashland, Wis. Three LumberJills reached double-digit kills in Bailey Wynn, Shelby Justman and Britta Josephson.
 
Starting the match NC and UWS traded points back and forth until the Yellowjackets went on an eight-point run to go up 8-4. UW-Superior held Northland for a little bit but the Jills crawled back tying the game at 22 with Ellie Kracht scoring the point. UW-Superior ended set one 25-22.
 
Set two, started the same as the first but it was the Jills who went on a run to go up four points. Wynn scored two of the three points on the three-point run to put Northland up 12-8. The lead did not last long with the Yellowjackets putting together a five-point run. Josephson put NC back on top at 17-16 and then again at 18-17. Northland was able to score points but not able to chain them together falling in set two 22-25
 
Out of the gate, Northland scored the first three points of the third set. Josephson was a main factor on the attack scoring three of four points to give the Jills a three-point lead. UW-Superior put together the larger run of the match with seven unanswered points to go up four. Northland regained the lead at 18-17 with a kill coming from Justman. As the teams neared 25 the Jills edged out the Yellowjackets to force set four 25-21.
                                                                                                                                            
In the final set, UWS scored eight of the first nine points and did not look back. The Yellowjackets increased their lead to 10 at 16-6. The Jills start to chip away at the deficit putting within six points after a Justman kill. UW-Superior finished out the set the way they started winning 25-16.
 
The Jills kept up with the Yellowjackets in part due to the strong offense. Wynn, Justman and Josephson all reached double-digit kills, the first time this season three student-athletes did it in one match. Elizabeth Montgomery was right behind the trio at seven. Megan Van Gheem set up 36 points and led the Jills again in service aces this time with two.
 
Defensively Alexa Zadra led the Jills with 21 digs, with three others also reaching double-figures. Wynn, Van Gheem and Annika Herlevi all kept the ball in play with 19, 16 and 13 digs respectively. The Jills had three blocks on the night, all were assisted blocks. Kracht and Wynn both were a part of two.
 
The Jills will be on the road next as they travel to Morris, Minn., to take on University of Minnesota, Morris on Saturday at 7 p.m.
 
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.