This story was written by Bay College SID Mike Pankow

ESCANABA---The Bay College Norse Volleyball Team (0-2, 7-8) opened MCCAA Northern Conference play at home this weekend, and were swept in straight sets in both matches.

On Friday Muskegon Community College (1-0, 10-4) took an early 5-0 lead in the first set, but Bay came storming back to make it a back and forth contest.  The Norse had the lead late in the set, but the visitors fought back to extend it, and ended up getting the advantage late, winning by a final of 27-25.

Letting the first set slip through their fingers seemed to take the wind of the Norse sails as the Jayhawks took control early in the second set and cruised to a 25-17 win there.  In the third, Bay took a lead early, but Muskegon pulled away with a run.  The Norse tried to rally on a couple of occasions, but couldn't seem to close the gap as Muskegon took the third set by a score of 25-13.

Errors haunted Bay throughout the matchup as they had a negative attack percentage in the second and third sets.  The Norse ended up with 21 kills and 20 attack errors in the match. 

Emma Rutter (FR, Chatham, MI) and Kylee Tadisch (FR, Coleman, WI) led Bay with 6 kills apiece.  Tori Jandt (FR, Peshtigo, WI) collected 15 digs while Leah Allan (FR, Oconto, WI) ended up with ten.  Amber Caylor (FR, Wausaukee, WI) had 18 assists and seven digs.

The Norse found themselves up against a staunch opponent on Saturday as well.  Grand Rapids Community College (2-0, 6-2) set the tone early and jumped out to a 9-2 lead.  The Norse quickly found themselves down by as many as ten points, but were able to make a run and close the gap to a 20-15 lead.  The Raiders were able to regain their control and close out the first set 25-17.

Very little went right for Bay in the second set.  The Raider defense rebuffed the Norse attack time and time again.  Grand Rapids held a 7-5 lead early in the set, then ran away with it.  They would put up ten more points before Bay could force a side out.  The Raiders would end up cruising to a 25-7 victory in the second.

Bay took an early lead in the third set, but Grand Rapids was relentless in their attack.  After a pair of Caylor service aces closed the score to 12-10 in favor of the visiting team, the Raiders went on a run and would close out the match.  Grand Rapids won the third set by a final of 25-13.

While the Norse cut down on their attack errors on Saturday, they struggled to hit home in their attacks, ending in negative attack percentages in two of three sets again.  They ended with 13 kills as a team, and 13 attack errors.

Jandt and Allan were the defensive leaders for Bay once again, as the former ended with 13 digs and the latter with 12.  Caylor had four service aces.

The Norse will look to get back on track on Tuesday as they host North Central Michigan in another MCCAA North Conference matchup.  That match begins at 6:30 pm.