ASHLAND, Wis. — The Martin Luther College volleyball team clinched its eighth consecutive trip to the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament with a 3-0 win at Northland College by the scores of 25-23, 25-18 and 25-14.

The Knights held off a charging Lumberjills team to win a close first set, and then cruised to wins in the next two sets to secure the sweep.

MLC hit .233 for the match, including a staggering .619 in the third set when it recorded 14 kills against only one error in 21 attempted attacks.

Grace Schultz and Jade St. Germaine led the way with eight kills apiece, while Ruth Buchholz added seven kills and hit .636 for the match.

Rylee Weisensel finished with a match-high six blocks (including two solo blocks), while Taylor Weber led the team with 12 digs.

MLC improved to 14-15 overall and 9-5 in UMAC play with the win. Northland fell to 7-18 on the season and 4-10 in league play with the loss.

The Knights will return to action on Wednesday when they host Bethany Lutheran College.

Men’s soccer

NEW ULM — The Martin Luther College men’s soccer team was unable to hold a second-half lead in a 3-2 defeat against Northwestern on Saturday in UMAC action.

The Knights fell behind 1-0 early on a Josiah Donat goal in the 12th minute, but erased that deficit with a penalty kick goal by Joseph Graumann in the 25th minute to tie the game heading into halftime. The goal was Graumann’s team-best seventh of the season.

MLC took the lead early in the second half when senior Justin Steinke scored his first career goal off a rebound in the 56th minute to give the Knights a 2-1 edge.

The Eagles responded, however, as Donat scored twice more in the 63rd and 69th minutes, respectively, to take a 3-2 lead.

With 13:27 to play in the game, the teams were sent off the field due to a lightning delay that lasted nearly 40 minutes. The teams resumed play, but the Knights were unable to come up with the equalizer as the Eagles held on for the win.

Luke Meihack led MLC with four shots, including one on goal. Graumann and Ethan Schultz each recorded a pair of shots.

MLC keeper Caleb King stopped three of the six UNW shots on net.

The Knights fell to 5-11 on the season and 4-6 in UMAC play with the loss. UNW improved to 8-5-2 overall and 7-2-1 in league play with the win.

MLC will return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Bethany Lutheran for a game scheduled to start at 7:15 p.m.

Women’s soccer

NEW ULM — The Martin Luther College women’s soccer team lost 3-0 against Northwestern on Saturday.

The game was named this week’s “UMAC Game of the Week” due to its importance in the conference standings. UNW entered atop the standings, while the Knights ranked third.

The teams battled back and forth, but the Eagles struck first with a penalty kick goal following a hand ball in the box in the 26th minute to take a 1-0 lead into halftime.

The Knights pressed and had opportunities in the second half, but were unable to cash any chances in, while the Eagles added insurance goals in the 67th and 83rd minutes to put the game away.

The Knights recorded 15 shots in the game, five of which were on goal. Danielle Hall and Hailey Johnson each finished with three shots.

Maria Tomassetti played in goal for MLC and stopped 10 of the 13 shots she faced.

MLC fell to 7-6-2 overall and 6-3-1 in UMAC play following the loss. UNW improved to 9-6-1 on the season and 9-0-1 in league play with the win.

The Knights will return to action on Monday when they travel to Bethel for a non-conference game scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m.