Lady Jays remain at No. 6 in NJCAA poll with big conference week ahead

Minnesota West hung on to the No. 6 spot in this week's NJCAA Division 3 Women's Volleyball rankings for the second consecutive week.

The Lady Jays went 3-2 on the week, winning both matches of a home triangular event last Monday and then dropping two of three matches over the weekend in Rochester. The first action of the weekend came against fifth-ranked Rochester Community Technical College, which shut out Minnesota West 3-0. The Yellow Jackets have been at No. 5 for three straight weeks.

In the match against Rochester, Ellyana Sand led the way offensively with nine kills and Aleah Wagner added seven. Aubrey Weedman had 13 digs and two ace serves and Kyrie Matucha contributed 11 digs. Ava Karbo had three solo blocks and two block assists.

In a Saturday 3-0 victory against Ellsworth Community College, Benita Nolt had a team-best nine kills. Wagner had seven kills, four ace serves and 15 digs.

In a Saturday 3-1 loss to Division 2 North Iowa Community College, the Lady Jays were led by Wagner's 12 kills, 22 digs and three block assists. Nolt had 10 kills, and Weedman passed for a weekend-best 26 set assists.

Minnesota West was scheduled to play in a road triangular Monday and then had three conference matches later in the week — at home against Western Tech on Wednesday, at Minnesota State-Fergus Falls on Friday and at St. Cloud Tech on Saturday.

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The Worthington High School girls soccer team will be back home Tuesday night at Trojan Field to take on New Ulm.

The Trojans are still in search of their initial win of the season but did record a notable achievement in their last match when Meybelin Guzman scored the team's first goal of the year, converting on a penalty kick during a 3-1 loss at Waseca. Head coach Andy Garcia noted that his squad battled hard and showed a lot of improvement and resilience this past Thursday.

The WHS boys soccer team, meanwhile, will aim to prolong a five-match winning streak Tuesday night when they play at New Ulm. The Eagles have had Worthington's number recently, as they've taken three straight wins — including last year's sectional title tilt.