BILLINGS, MT - The University of Mary Volleyball team continued to show more great signs of what the 2023 season has in store on Saturday. Finishing their third and fourth games at the 2023 Yellowjacket Volleyball Invitational, the Marauders led the day two slate off with a clean sweep over Southeastern Oklahoma State University and later came back for a highly competitive five-set defeat to Black Hills State University. 

The Marauders attack was once again well-balanced with multiple hitters contributing big-time points to help the team through each matchup. Ally Gruber finished the weekend with the most kills for the Marauders with 43 total and 25 on Saturday. Closely behind her was Nehkyah Ellis with 40 on the weekend. 

FIRST MATCH
The first-ever meeting between the programs belonged to UMary (2-2) as they defeated Southeastern Oklahoma State (1-3) in a clean 3-0 sweep (25-23, 25-20, 25-21). Much like opening day Friday, multiple Marauders pitched in for a balanced attack to overwhelm the Storm's defense. 

The Opening set started close with UMary and Southeastern Oklahoma State knotted up at 10 apiece. As the Storm inched closer to clinching the set leading 22-18, the Marauders answered massively with a six-point run featuring two kills from Nehkyah Ellis, two blocks from Alexandria Harper, and an ace serve by Kameron Selvig. Another vintage kill from Ellis two points later completed another Marauders comeback set victory 25-23. 

After the Storm jumped out to an early 6-1 lead, the Marauders quickly regained momentum through multiple runs onward to a 25-20 set victory. Harper and Gruber led the way through the second frame with four kills each. 

Behind Maddie Cooper's five kills in the third set, the Marauders clung to a modest lead throughout the third and final set 25-21 to complete an impressive sweep and another strong match to start their day at the Yellowjacket Invitational. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Maddie Cooper's strong finish in the match gave her 9 total kills while swinging a very efficient 0.474% on her attacks. The junior from Fargo, ND also had 2.5 blocks and a service ace. 

Nehkyah Ellis matched Cooper's kill total with 9 for the team lead. The senior from Central Point, OR narrowly missed a double-double as she also passed for 10 digs. 

Ally Gruber swung for 8 kills in the opening match and also just missed a double-double performance, covering plenty of the back row as well with a team-high 13 digs. She also had 2.0 total blocks.

Alexandria Harper finished with 7 kills and 2.0 total blocks. 

Kameron Selvig dished out 31 assists, 6 digs, and an ace in the sweep. 

Chloe Lieser pitched in 10 digs and an ace serve. 

SECOND MATCH
Behind Ally Gruber's career performance, UMary pushed Black Hills State (3-1) to the limits in a 3-2 defeat (25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 23-25, 11-15). The Yellowjackets narrowly escaped with their sixth victory in as many meetings with the Marauders. 

Both squads were neck and neck through the first half of the opening set before UMary gained a little separation with a four-point run for their biggest lead at that point in the match of six at 23-17. Kills from Reyna Isenbart and Ally Gruber completed another strong start with a 25-20 set victory. 

The Yellowjackets, however, retaliated with a hot start, leading the Marauders as much as ten points as they neared the 25-point mark. The Marauders began to close the gap as they capitalized on a handful of Yellowjacket errors, but came up just shy of the comeback as a kill from Emily Freeland ended the frame 25-20 to even the match score 1-1 for Black Hills State. 

A fast turnaround in set three from Nehkyah Ellis paced the Marauders to their second set victory of the match 25-19. Ellis started with 4 kills while Gruber heated up with 5 in the third stanza. Maddy Freed made her presence felt in the set too with 11 assists to the Marauders hitters.

Freed continued her successes in the fourth set for UMary, dishing out 8 assists, 2 ace serves, and 2 kills of her own. Paired with multiple kills from four other players throughout set four, the Yellowjackets regained momentum late to just pull ahead of the Marauders 25-23 to force a fifth and final set. 

Like the previous four, the fifth set featured impressive runs from both sides as BHS just edged UMary for a 10-9 lead in the closing points. In the end, Emily Freeland put the game away for the Yellowjackets, ending the set 15-11 on her 20th kill. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Ally Gruber finished a great opening weekend with her career-high 17 kills on a solid 0.273 hitting percentage. She also added 9 digs.

Nehkyah Ellis ended her strong week with another 9-kill performance in the nightcap. Ellis also added 11 digs, 2 aces, and a solo block. 

Maddie Cooper had another solid performance in the middle with 8 kills (0.333%) and 3.5 total blocks. 

Reyna Isenbart was another solid presence, adding 8 kills and had a hand assisting in 5 blocks. 

Alexandria Harper tallied 7 kills and 2.5 blocks. 

Chloe Lieser corralled 22 digs, a new career-high. 

UP NEXT
UMary Volleyball will conclude its non-conference schedule next weekend at the 2023 Yellowjacket Classic hosted by Black Hills State University. The Marauders will play South Dakota Mines and BHSU on Friday, September 8, and then Montana State University Billings and Texas A&M University - Kingsville on Saturday, September 9. 

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