ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Things didn't go quite as planned for the University of Northwestern volleyball team in its first day of action for the 2013 season as the Eagles lost back-to-back matches against Concordia College-Moorhead and the College of Saint Benedict. UNW needed a comeback fourth set to force a decisive 15-point fifth round against the Cobbers from Concordia, but the Eagles fell 15-12 before having to turn around and play the 19th-ranked team in the country minutes later in a 3-0 sweep.

Northwestern took the opening set against Concordia before finding itself down 2-1 after three sets. With each team having won two sets, the Eagles were in position for a run with 8-7 and 9-8 leads in the fifth. But the Cobbers took five of the next six points, owning a 13-10 advantage before closing out with a 15-12 set win and a 3-2 match victory.

Three UNW players recorded double-digit kills in the match including Kendra Korporal (Sumner, Iowa /Sumner-Fredericksburg), who finished with 17 on 47 attempts. Faith Vander Galien (Chanhassen, Minn./Southwest Christian) had 14 kills and a .458 hitting rate, while Cari Miller (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) also found success in the middle with 13 kills. Krista Stoltz (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) started her senior year off with a 48-assist match as the Eagles hit .154 as a team. On the other side of the court, Kynndyl Ross's 19 kills propelled Concordia to a .246 attacking percentage.

After nearly two-hour match, the Eagles' day was just half over with the tournament host in Saint Benedict waiting after having defeated 25th-ranked Wis.-Stevens Point in three sets, allowing the Blazers to have a 45-minute break in between contests. Northwestern didn't hit terribly against Saint Ben's, the Eagles' final opponent in the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament, but the Blazers connected on 48 of their 91 total attempts for a whopping .440 attacking rate in a 25-13, 25-17, 25-15 final.

No one on UNW's roster had earth shattering numbers in the match, Stoltz finished with 20 assists as Korporal and Miller combined for 13 kills. Defensively, Bertsch tallied 10 digs in the rather short contest. Lexi Alm had 14 kills to lead the Blazers (2-0), with Taya Kockelman picking up 39 assists along the way.

Northwestern will try to pick up its first victory of the new year on Saturday when two more matches await in Claire Lynch Hall. The Eagles start the day with an 11 a.m. bout against Stevens Point before facing off against Bethel University at 1 p.m. to wrap up the weekend.