ST. PAUL, Minn. – The sixth-seeded St. Olaf College volleyball team dropped a 25-21, 26-24, 25-21 contest to the third-seeded University of St. Thomas in the quarterfinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs on Tuesday evening at Schoenecker Arena.
 
Junior Lauren Rewers and first-year Katelyn Lannom each had 13 kills for St. Olaf (23-7), which was making its second-straight appearance in the MIAC Playoffs after reaching the semifinals last season. St. Thomas (25-7) used a balanced attack of four Tommies with between eight and 12 kills to advance to the semifinals.
 
St. Thomas will travel to second-seeded Saint Benedict on Thursday, Nov. 1 in the semifinals at 7 p.m. The other semifinal will see the winner of fourth-seeded Bethel and fifth-seeded Augsburg head to top-seeded Gustavus.
 
St. Olaf and St. Thomas were meeting for the eighth time in the Oles' 10 appearances in the MIAC Playoffs. Both teams have now won four of the eight meetings in the conference tournament.
 
Lannom hit .400 with 13 kills on 25 swings, while Rewers added a match-high 16 digs and four block assists to her 13 kills. Lannom was in on six of the Oles' eight blocks. Senior Alison Curry contributed seven kills, with Lexi Wall posting 41 assists.
 
In addition to Rewers' 16 digs, Haley Langeslag had 15 and Summer Reid and Emily Jarnigan each had 13.
 
St. Olaf jumped out to a 5-2 lead early in the first set before St. Thomas took its first lead at 9-8. With the Oles leading 12-11, the Tommies went on a 6-0 run to take a 17-12 lead and would lead by at least three the rest of the way.
 
St. Thomas used another 6-0 run early in the second set to go ahead 12-8 and stretch its advantage to 15-9 at a St. Olaf timeout. Rewers had a kill and an ace in a quick 4-0 run that brought the Oles within a point, 19-18. After trailing by a single point four times late in the set, St. Olaf got even at 24-24 by winning three points in row, but a kill by Audrey Erickson and a block by Erickson and Julia Spacek gave the set to the Tommies, 26-24.
 
The Tommies raced to an 8-2 lead in the third before the Oles gradually climbed back in the set. Down 12-6, St. Olaf won seven of the next eight points to tie it at 13-13, with Lannom recording four kills during the rally. St. Thomas halted the run with a Madie Kroehler kill that started a 4-0 run and the Tommies led by at least two points the rest of the match.
 
Grace Bordson led the Tommies with 12 kills while hitting .435 on the night. Spacek added nine kills, while Erickson and Kroehler each had eight. Katharine Mallak handed out 37 assists and Kroehler made a team-best 15 digs.