NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team has earned the No. 6 seed in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs and will travel to the No. 3 seed University of St. Thomas on Tuesday evening in the quarterfinals.
The Oles secured their second consecutive berth in the MIAC Playoffs by compiling a record of 23-6 in the regular season, while going 7-4 in MIAC play. St. Olaf will face the third-seeded Tommies on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, with the winner advancing to face No. 2 seed Saint Benedict on Thursday evening in St. Joseph. St. Thomas halted St. Olaf's nine-match winning streak with a four-set victory at Schoenecker Arena earlier this season on Sept. 26.
St. Olaf clinched a playoff spot with a marathon five-set win at Saint Mary's on Wednesday evening and ended up tied with Bethel and Augsburg for the final three spots. The tie was broken on sets won in matches among the three teams, with the Royals (4-3) earning the No. 4 seed, the Auggies (4-4) getting the fifth seed and the Oles (3-4) receiving the No. 6 seed.
Fourth-seeded Bethel will host fifth-seeded Augsburg in Tuesday night's other quarterfinal, with the winner heading to St. Peter to face No. 1 seed Gustavus on Thursday night.
St. Olaf is making its 10th overall appearance in the MIAC Playoffs (2000-02, 2005, 2008-10, 2012, 2017-18) and is 12-7 all-time in the tournament, which began in 2000. The Oles own three MIAC Playoff titles (2000, 2002, 2010), the third-most championships among conference schools, and St. Olaf's 12 victories in the conference tournament are tied for the third-most among MIAC schools.
Last season, St. Olaf advanced to the semifinals as the No. 4 seed with a four-set victory over No. 5 seed Bethel at Skoglund Center before falling in four sets at No. 1 seed St. Thomas. The quarterfinal win over the Royals was the first MIAC Playoff victory for the Oles since the 2010 MIAC Playoff championship team.
St. Olaf and St. Thomas have met in seven of the Oles' nine previous appearances in the MIAC Playoffs, with St. Olaf winning four of the seven postseason matchups. The Oles defeated the Tommies to claim the 2002 and 2010 MIAC Playoff titles, with each of the other five encounters coming in the semifinals.
St. Olaf ranks first or second in the MIAC in most major offensive categories, leading the MIAC in assists per set (12.72), while ranking second in kills (1,401), kills per set (13.47), hitting percentage (.236) and assists (1,323). The Oles' hitting percentage is just .001 behind MIAC leader Augsburg, while St. Olaf's mark of 13.47 kills per set is just .04 behind Gustavus.
Individually, junior
Lauren Rewers ranks second in the conference in kills per set (3.45) and is tied for second in kills (352), while sophomore
Summer Reid is fifth in kills per set (2.98) and seventh in kills (301). The Oles are the lone MIAC team with two student-athletes with at least 300 kills this season.
Sophomore setter
Lexi Wall leads the MIAC and ranks second in Division III in assists per set (11.48) this season, while first-year
Katelyn Lannom sits atop the MIAC leaderboard in hitting percentage (.374). Senior
Alison Curry is sixth in the conference in hitting percentage (.303) and is St. Olaf's top blocker (0.85 per set), while junior
Haley Langeslag ranks fifth in the MIAC in digs (504) and sixth in digs per set (4.85).
The Oles were ranked No. 8 in the Central Region last week's NCAA Regional Rankings, which are used to determine the NCAA Tournament field, while the Tommies were fourth. The MIAC had six of the eight regionally-ranked teams, with No. 1 Gustavus, No. 3 Saint Benedict, No. 5 Bethel and No. 6 Augsburg joining St. Olaf and St. Thomas in the rankings.
