St. Bonifacius, Minn. – The Crown volleyball team was swept by the visiting Cougars of Minnesota Morris on Tuesday night, falling by scores of 25-7, 25-16, and 25-11 in the first home contest of the conference season.

The Cougars, a traditional power in UMAC volleyball, started out scorching hot in the Wild Athletic Center, jumping out to a 15-3 lead in the first set. The visitors saw a similar start to set two stake them to an 11-3 lead before a pair of Talana Rudzitis aces in the middle of a four-point run drew Crown to within 11-7. The Storm would get to within two points in set two, at 13-11, but Morris pulled away to take that set 25-16.

Crown rebounded to start set three, jumping out to a 6-2 lead before the Cougars rattled off nine straight points. Morris never looked back and made it a sweep at three sets to none.

Crown was led in attack by Gretchen Warner with four kills, but the Storm struggled in that category for the game, totaling 14 kills and 15 attacking errors over 82 attempts. Morris recorded 24 kills with just four errors in the match.

Amy Martius and Rudzitis combined for eleven assists, with the former leading the way with six. Martius and Gracie Zieroth anchored the defense with seven digs apiece.

Crown looks ahead to a Friday night homecoming matchup at 7 p.m. with the Hamline Pipers