Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

WINONA, Minn. - The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team split a pair of matches in opening its 2014 season in the eighth annual Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic in Winona, Minn. IWU topped Gustavus Adolphus, 3-2, before losing to Wis.-LaCrosse, 3-0.

The Titans held off Gustavus to win their opener, 25-15, 25-20, 19-25, 17-25, 15-9, and lost to LaCrosse, 25-27, 25-27, 17-25, at the Gostomski Fieldhouse located on the campus of Saint Mary's University.

On winning the opener, head coach Kim Nelson-Brown said, "The team battled the entire match. This was a great win to kick off the season." Senior Kinzie Schweigert led the team with 13 kills while freshman Anne Cummings had 12, freshman Kyleigh Block added 12 and senior Maddie Greybar added nine.

Sophomore Colleen Rynne provided 26 set assists with 11 digs and freshman Nicole Bing had 20 along with 16 digs. Block led the team with 26 digs while sophomore Alexa Cornish has 25 and Greybar had 17.

In the loss to LaCrosse, Block had nine kills and 27 digs while Schweigert had eight kills and Greybar had seven kills and 13 digs. Rynne again led IWU with 17 assists and Bing had 10 while Cornish made 22 defensive digs.

"We really struggled getting into a rhythm in our second match," said Nelson-Brown. "We gave up a lot of unforced errors. We competed in the first two sets and need to finish when the opportunity presents itself."

What's Next?
IWU stays in Minnesota to play St. Catherine's at 10 a.m. and the host school St. Mary's at noon on day two of the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic