ESCANABA — A year ago Milwaukee Area Technical College visited Bay College for a volleyball match and breezed to a 3-0 victory.

The Stormers won again here Saturday, but the Norse made it a little more challenging for them this time in a 3-1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-17, 25-21) triumph.

Bay led 15-13 in the fourth after a kill by freshman middle hitter Olyvia Saxton.

A pair of passing errors then foiled the Norse, enabling the Stormers to take a 17-15 lead.

The Norse (10-10) kept it close and were within 23-21 following a Stormers’ service error.

Milwaukee (13-9), however got a sideout on a hitting miscue and freshman outside hitter Sam Siehr ended the match with a kill.

“I’m not upset with the effort, but they were the aggressive team all day,” Norse coach Dan Porath said. “It was nice to take the first set, but it felt like we were on defense most of the time. Although, we can go back and look at some film and see what worked well in the first set and what wasn’t working in the next two. We’ll go back to the drawing board and see what we can do better.”

The Stormers jumped on the Norse quickly in the opener, taking a 5-1 lead on a defensive error.

Bay rallied to take an 11-8 lead on a block by sophomore outside hitter Emma Rutter.

The Norse maintained the upper hand and led 24-20 following a net violation by the Stormers.

Milwaukee got within 24-23 on a hitting miscue before the Norse sealed that set.

“It was important for us to get that one,” sophomore middle hitter Kylee Tadisch said. “I feel we did a pretty good job. We have a few things to clean up, but we’re getting better with each match. We were working on a lot of new techniques in the first set. I’m really happy with the way we’re developing.”

Bay was within 11-9 following a two-hit violation in the second.

Milwaukee, however, surged to a 20-10 advantage behind a six-point service run by sophomore outside hitter Olyvia Williams and a Norse hitting error.

The Norse scored the next four points before a kill by freshman middle hitter Paige Siehr ended that set.

In the third set, a kill by Tadisch brought the Norse within 9-8.

A five-point run by Paige Siehr enabled Milwaukee to gain a 14-8 lead before the Norse got a sideout on a serving miscue.

The Stormers continued to widen the spread and took a 20-10 advantage prior to committing a service error.

Bay got within 23-16, but was unable to get any closer.

Saxton, Tadisch and sophomore right side hitter Tianna Taylor recorded seven kills apiece. Freshman middle hitter Piper Monroe and sophomore Leah Allan added five each.

“The fourth set was better than the previous two,” said Porath. “We forced them into some errors.”

Sophomore setter Amber Caylor provided the Norse with 14 assists and freshman setter Madison Johnson had 11.

Bay sophomore libero Tori Jandt collected 21 digs. Allan tallied 15 and sophomore defensive specialist Gracie Varoni finished with 11.

Paige Siehr led the Stormers at the net with 12 kills. Sophomore setter Emily Barker chipped in with five aces, nine kills, 26 assists and 12 digs. Sam Siehr had eight kills and 15 digs and sophomore libero Amaris Williams had 14 digs.

The Norse travel to Petoskey Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. match against North Central Michigan College.

Bay College — Allan (two aces, five kills, one assist, 15 digs); Taylor (seven kills, two assists, one dig); Saxton (seven kills, one dig); Tadisch (seven kills); Monroe (five kills); Rutter (four kills, one dig); Caylor (14 assists, seven digs); Johnson (11 assists, six digs); Jandt (21 digs); Varoni (11 digs).