ST. PAUL-- The Wartburg volleyball team split its Saturday matches at the Northwestern Invite. The Knights swept Concordia-Moorhead 3-0 before facing host No. 14 Northwestern. The Orange and Black won the second set, but fell 3-1 in the match.

Against the Cobbers, Wartburg won 25-18, 25-7, 25-19. Senior Lizzy Blough (Dike) led the team with 14 kills and freshman Jayme Willemssen (Waverly) followed with 11 and had an incredible .714 hitting percentage.

Senior Mallary Erbes (Urbandale) had a double-double with 36 assists and 13 digs. Sophomore Katie Foster (Charles City) had a team-best 26 digs. 

The Knights held the team advantages in hitting percentage (.361 vs. .039), service aces (6-1), digs (65-41), and blocks (5-2).

Against the Eagles, the first two sets went into extra points as UNW won the opener, 30-28, but the Orange and Black claimed the second, 29-27. Northwestern would claim the last two sets 25-14 and 25-23.

Blough again led the team with 16 kills, Willemssen had 11, and sophomore Kylie Bildstein (Dyersville) rounded out those in double digits with 10. Erbes had 33 assists, 14 digs, and four service aces.

As a team, Wartburg owned the advantage in blocks and hitting percentage.

For their efforts on the weekend, Blough and Erbes were named to the All-Tournament team.

The Knights return to the court next Friday when they go back to the Twin Cities, this time for Augsburg's tournament.