WINONA, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team clinched its second-straight Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoff berth by outlasting Saint Mary's University (Minn.) in five sets 14-25, 25-15, 26-28, 26-24, 15-13 on Wednesday evening at Saint Mary's Gym.

On a night that saw junior Lauren Rewers reach the 1,000-kill milestone, St. Olaf (22-7, 6-4 MIAC) secured its spot in the MIAC Playoffs by overcoming a two-sets-to-one deficit to eliminate Saint Mary's (13-13, 4-6 MIAC) from postseason contention. The Oles are tied with Augsburg for the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds in the six-team MIAC Playoffs, although St. Olaf holds the head-to-head tiebreak after defeating the Auggies earlier this season in Minneapolis.

The Oles, who advanced to the semifinals of the MIAC Playoffs last season, clinched their 10th overall appearance in the conference tournament and the first back-to-back berths since three in a row from 2008-10. Concordia (Minn.) was also eliminated from contention after falling to St. Catherine on Wednesday evening.

Rewers entered the match needing seven kills to reach the 1,000-kill mark and finished the night with 20, reaching the milestone in the third set. Rewers became the second Ole this season to reach 1,000 kills, joining senior Megan Grimes, and the 11th since 1991 to achieve the milestone.

Sophomore Summer Reid had a match and season-high 21 kills, one shy of her career high, and 13 digs for the Oles. First-year Katelyn Lannom joined Rewers and Reid in double figures with 12 kills.

Juniors Emily Jarnigan and Haley Langeslag each had 15 digs in the match, while sophomore Lexi Wall posted a 58-assist, 10-dig double-double. The Oles enjoyed a 10-3 advantage in blocks in the match, as senior Alison Curry was in on a season-high seven blocks and Rewers was part of five, matching her season-high total.

The Cardinals surged out to a 6-0 lead in the first set and never looked back, taking the opener 25-14 after hitting .355. St. Olaf returned the favor in the second, hitting .325 while limiting Saint Mary's to a .147 clip to even the match at a set apiece. With the second set tied at 11-11, the Oles won 12-straight points behind Wall's serve to blow the set open, with Reid accounting for five kills during the run.

The final three sets were each decided by just two points, beginning with the Cardinals' 28-26 win in the third. St. Olaf built an 18-10 lead in the third before Saint Mary's came roaring back to steal the set. Trailing by eight, the Cardinals climbed within a point with an 8-1 run and later saved four set points before winning the final three points, with Brandi Blattner providing kills on two of the final three.

After being down 19-16 towards the latter stages of the fourth, St. Olaf climbed even at 21-21 after a 3-0 run capped by a solo block from Rewers and a Reid ace. The Oles grabbed slender leads of 23-22 and 24-23, but a Linnaea Wallis kill evened the set at 24-24. A service error by the Cardinals led to a set point for St. Olaf, which the Ole capitalized on with a Reid kill to send the match to a decider.

St. Olaf took its first lead of the fifth set at 6-5 after a 3-0 run, but Saint Mary's led 8-7 at the change of sides. After the side switch, the Oles got kills from Reid and Rewers before Curry was in on consecutive blocks in a 4-0 run that put St. Olaf ahead 11-8. Down 13-10, the Cardinals pulled level at 13-13, but a quick side-out on a kill out of the middle by Lannom and an attack error gave the Oles their fourth win in five five-set matches this season. St. Olaf had four blocks in the fifth set, compared to none for Saint Mary's.

Blattner had 20 kills and 14 digs to pace Saint Mary's, which got 14 kills from Rachel Kedl and 10 from Wallis. The Cardinals outhit the Oles .234 to .216 in the match, but could not overcome the 10-3 deficit in blocks. St. Olaf also held a 7-2 advantage in aces in the match.

The Oles host crosstown-rival Carleton College on Friday, Oct. 26 on Senior Night at Skoglund Center. St. Olaf will honor its three seniors – Curry, Grimes and Mikayla Grossman – prior to the 7 p.m. start.