ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team pushed the No. 14-ranked University of Northwestern (Minn.) to four sets by winning the third before eventually falling 25-21, 26-24, 22-25, 25-23 to the Eagles on Wednesday evening at the Ericksen Center.
 
In the first meeting between the two schools since Oct. 25, 2011, Northwestern (4-1) fought back from a late 24-22 deficit in the second to take a two-sets-to-none lead, but St. Olaf (4-1) started a comeback of its own by snatching the third set to extend the match to four. In the fourth, however, the Eagles broke a 22-22 deadlock by winning three of the final four points to close out the victory.
 
Sophomore Summer Reid and junior Lauren Rewers both posted double-doubles on the night while recording season highs in both kills and digs. Reid produced 16 kills and 13 digs while hitting .304, while Rewers added 15 kills and 11 digs while hitting .282.
 
Sophomore Lexi Wall posted a season-high 51 assists, junior Haley Langeslag made a season-best 30 digs and junior Emily Jarnigan pitched in with 14 digs. Senior Megan Grimes joined Reid and Rewers in double figures with 14 kills of her own for St. Olaf, which hit .202 for the match.
 
Northwestern was paced by 15 kills from Mariah Halvorsen. Jenay Fuglestad added 15 kills and seven block assists, while Hope Kapelke had 10 kills on 21 errorless swings to hit .476. Sydney Schwitters handed out 48 assists and made 11 digs defensively, with Kalley Schwitters tallying a team-high 16 digs.
 
In the opening set, Northwestern opened up an 18-9 lead and held on late for a 25-21 set win. Trailing 23-16, the Oles won five of the next seven points, including saving four-straight set points after being down 24-18, before the Eagles closed out the set on a Kapelke kill.
 
Late in the second, St. Olaf appeared poised to even the match at a set apiece until Northwestern claimed the final four points to go up by two sets to none. With the Oles down 21-20, Rewers and Grimes tallied kills to start a 4-1 stretch that eventually gave St. Olaf set points up 24-22. After a timeout, however, the Eagles took the last four points of the second to take a two-set lead.
 
The Oles never trailed in the third set, racing out to a 10-4 lead before holding on in the late stages to send the match to a fourth set. After saving two set points in the second, Northwestern saved four more after trailing 24-18 in the third, before Wall sealed the set, 25-22, with a solo block for St. Olaf.
 
Down 10-6 in the fourth, St. Olaf won nine-of-12 points to take a 15-13 advantage, with Rewers posting three-straight kills during the spurt. The teams alternated points from 15-15 to 20-20 and the score remained within one until consecutive points for Northwestern brought up match points for the hosts at 24-22. Senior Alison Curry kept the Oles in the match with a solo block, but Fuglestad finished off the match for the Eagles with a kill.
 
St. Olaf heads to Appleton, Wis. this weekend for four matches at the ACM Tournament. The Oles begin the tournament on Saturday, Sept. 8 against Ripon (12 p.m.) and Beloit (4 p.m.).