ST. PETER, Minn. – In a battle of teams receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25, the St. Olaf College volleyball team was swept by Gustavus Adolphus College, 25-15, 29-27, 25-23, on Thursday evening at Gus Young Court.
After Gustavus (8-7, 1-1 MIAC) ran away with the first set in the later stages, St. Olaf (14-3, 0-2 MIAC) generated late rallies in each of the final two sets, but could not extend the match. Sophomore
Katelyn Lannom led the way with a match-high 16 kills and hit .429 for the Oles.
Junior
Summer Reid joined Lannom in double figures with 12 kills, as junior
Lexi Wall posted 35 assists and 12 digs. Senior
Emily Jarnigan paced St. Olaf with 13 digs.
St. Olaf led 4-3 early in the first set before Gustavus went on a 4-0 run to take a lead the Gusties would not relinquish. Back-to-back kills from Reid closed a 19-13 deficit to 19-15, but Gustavus won the final six points of the set. Reid had five kills in the opening set, but the Oles hit just .081 in the set thanks in part to four blocks by the hosts.
Down 23-20 late in the second set, St. Olaf mounted a late rally to extend the set to extra points. The Oles saved four set points, two on kills by Lannom to tie it up at 26-26 and 27-27. Gustavus eventually won consecutive points on kills by Rhyan Herrmann and Kaylyn Johnston to close out the set, 29-27, and take a two-sets-to-none lead.
Lannom had three early kills to help the Oles grab an early 6-5 lead and, later, back-to-back kills by Reid out of a Gustavus timeout put St. Olaf ahead 11-9. The Oles held the lead until the Gusties won four-straight points to take a 20-18 lead. With Gustavus ahead 24-21, St. Olaf saved consecutive set points on a ball handling error by the Gusties and a kill by Lannom, only for Kaikea Welsh ended the match with a kill.
St. Olaf (38) had one more kill in the match than Gustavus (37) but could not overcome a 10-1 Gustie edge in blocks. After hitting under .100 in the first two sets, the Oles hit .302 in the third set, but the Gusties hit .394 with just one error in the final set.
Up next for St. Olaf is a trip to the University of Minnesota Morris for a pair of matches on Saturday, Sept. 28. The Oles take on the College of St. Scholastica at 2 p.m. followed by host Minnesota Morris at 4 p.m.
