St. Paul - The Blue Jays earned two set wins but dropped two matches in the opening day of the UNW Labor Day Tournament. 

Westminster dropped the opening match 3-1 against St. Scholastica. The second match against Wisconsin-Stout also ended in a 3-1 loss. 

"I like the challenge," said Westminster Head Coach Curtis Madson. "We don't schedule easy matches. We are building for November and saw things to build on. The players stepped up and I'm proud of how we fought today." 

In the first match, Westminster won the first set but fell in the next three, including a score of 25-23 in the fourth. Hannah Marshall led the team with 13 kills followed by Amanda Kiso with 10. Bridget Ringwald let the team with 21 digs. Kayla Reeg ended the match with 40 assists.

In the second set, the Blue Jays fought back from a 2-0 match deficit to win the third and make the score 2-1. The squad lost the fourth set by a score of 30-28. Marshall recorded 16 kills, while Ringwald recorded 26 digs. Reeg added another 40 assists to total 82 on the day. 

"We have a diverse lineup," said Madson. "It was good to see maturity from older players and progress from our younger players competing in their first collegiate matches." 

Westminster returns to action Saturday against Concordia-Morehead at 9 a.m. and host Northwestern at 1 p.m.