The LumberJills opened their season this weekend at the Mabel Lee Invite hosted by Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA.

The tournament was filled with tough competition as teams from across Iowa and Wisconsin participated in the event. The Jill's first matchup would be against tournament host Coe College. The Jills would get off to a slow start, but would quickly battle back and challenge Coe in the second and third sets. The Jills would ultimately fall 0-3 in the matchup. To round out day 1, the Jills would find themselves facing UW-Platteville for their second game of the day. Northland would battle UW-Platteville in all three sets, but would lose 0-3.

Day 2 saw the LumberJills playing in the morning matchup against Grinnell College. The Jills offense would come alive in set 1, but wouldn't be enough to defeat the Pioneers, losing 0-3. The final matchup of the tournament placed the Jills against #18 ranked UW-Lacrosse. The Jills would have a difficult time trying to break through the defense of the Eagles and would fall 0-3.

Head Volleyball Coach Kim Falkenhagen commented on the tournament. "The team worked hard this weekend to find a team unity with new personnel and lineups, as well as different roles on the team. We learned a lot and improved throughout the weekend. The Coe College tournament was a wry competitive tournament, but with continued work and improvements, I am expecting to see success in the upcoming weeks."

Freshman Justine Litherland had a great weekend for the Jills and stepped into a starting 6 rotation role from the first set.

Northland College is an NCAA Division III institution, located in Ashland, WI. The LumberJacks and LumberJills sponsor 15 varsity sports and compete in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference and the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association.