Riverland welcomed Minnesota West to Austin for a volleyball match just before the Labor Day Weekend. It took all five sets to settle the contest, the Bluejays handing the Blue Devils a close loss on their home court in MCAC action.

Minnesota West started the match in red-hot form and won the first set by a commanding 25-10 score. That may have led to a bit of overconfidence from the Bluejays, as Riverland fought back to take the second set 25-16. The two teams split the third and fourth sets, taking the match to an all-deciding fifth set. Despite a valiant effort from Riverland, the Bluejays won that fifth set, taking the victory.

Lexi Gerber (Hayfield, MN) led the Riverland attack, racking up 12 kills on the night, with Ava Boverhouis (Austin, MN) right behind Gerber with 11. Setter Makenna Krause (Stewartville, MN) had 38 assists. Defensively, Madisyn Retterath (Austin, MN) came up with 22 digs and Mallory Evans (Albert Lea, MN) chipped in with 13 more.

"It was a fun game and we saw some good things happen," said Riverland head women's volleyball coach Jaime Meyer. "We see work we need to do. Overall, we just need to figure out how to stay consistent with skills and our mental game. Good things to come this season!"

Riverland is back on the court on Tuesday, September 7, when they welcome Iowa Central's JV team to Austin for a match. That will be followed by a pair of away matches, on September 8 and September 10, against Western Technical College.