MORRIS, Minn. – After sweeping the College of St. Scholastica earlier in the day by scores of 25-18, 25-14, 29-27, the St. Olaf College volleyball team won the final four points of the match to rally for a 25-19, 19-25, 20-25, 25-18, 15-13 victory over the University of Minnesota Morris on Saturday afternoon at the Cougar Sports Center.

St. Olaf (16-3) hit .284, including hitting at least .325 in each of the first two sets, in the opener against St. Scholastica (8-4) to record its sixth sweep of the season. Later in the day, the Oles trailed two sets to one and 13-11 in the fifth set to Minnesota Morris (7-9) but rallied to knock off the host Cougars, who advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago.

The Oles' 16-3 start to the season is the best by the program since the 2010 team also won 16 of its first 19 matches as part of a 17-3 opening to the season.

St. Olaf 3, St. Scholastica 0 | Box Score

In the first match of the day, junior setter Lexi Wall tallied 44 assists in just three sets to move into sixth place in program history in career assists (3,187). Wall's 44 assists moved her past Kersten Bork '16 (3,173) on the program's all-time list.

Junior Summer Reid tallied a match-high 14 kills for St. Olaf, which got 12 kills apiece from senior Lauren Rewers and junior Morgan Marxer. Rewers committed just one error on 30 swings to hit .367 in the match, while Reid posted an attack percentage of .345.

Senior Emily Jarnigan recorded a match-high 27 digs, her third-highest total of the season, while Wall added 10 for another double-double. The Oles held the Saints to a hitting percentage of just .098 for the match.

Back-to-back kills by Reid jump-started a 4-0 run midway through the first set that gave St. Olaf a 13-7 advantage. The Oles led by at least four points for the rest of the set, as Reid's six kills in the set helped St. Olaf hit .382 in the set on its way to a 25-18 set win.

After falling in a quick 3-0 hole in the second, the Oles won 13-straight points to take a commanding 10-point lead. Rewers had five kills in the run, as St. Olaf outhit St. Scholastica .326 - .021 in the set to grab a two-sets-to-none lead.

After hitting .351 over the first two sets, the Oles cooled off to .193 in the third but managed to close out the match in three sets. Consecutive kills by Rewers and Marxer put St. Olaf ahead by four, 22-18, late in the set, but St. Scholastica battled back to tie it at 25 and eventually took a 27-26 lead. A pair of attack errors by the Saint brought up match points for the Oles before a block by Rewers and first year Maddie Knupp sealed the victory.

St. Olaf 3, Minnesota Morris 2 | Box Score

Down two sets to one and 18-16 in the fourth set, St. Olaf won the final nine points of the fourth set to send the match to a decider against host Minnesota Morris. The Cougars took a 13-11 lead in the fifth before the Oles won the final four points to escape with the win.

Reid reached double figures in kills for the 10th-straight match, finishing with a match-high 17. Sophomore Katelyn Lannom needed just 27 swings to tally 15 kills out of the middle, while Rewers had 14 kills and the match-clinching ace on match point.

Wall logged her 13th double-double of the season with 47 assists and 11 digs, while Jarnigan tallied a team-high 21 digs.

St. Olaf jumped out to a 5-1 lead to start the match and never trailed in the opening set. After the Cougars got within one, 14-13, the Oles won six-straight points on the serve of junior Jordan Melz to push their lead to 20-13 on their way to taking the opener, 25-19.

Minnesota Morris limited St. Olaf to a -.031 attack percentage in the second set and hit .485 with just one error on 33 swings in the third set to take a two-sets-to-one lead. With the Cougars leading 18-16 in the fourth, Lannom ignited a 9-0 close to the set with a kill and an ace before Reid delivered three-straight kills as the Oles sent the match to a fifth set.

The Cougars won three points in a row around the switch of sides in the fifth to take a 9-7 lead and continued to lead by two, 13-11, after a kill by Brenna Tinjum. Consecutive kills by Rewers and Lannom evened the set at 13-13, prompting a timeout by the hosts. Out of the stoppage, an attack error by Minnesota Morris gave the Oles a match point. Out of another timeout, Rewers' serve clipped the top of the net and bounced over to give St. Olaf the win.

The Oles return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play on Wednesday, Oct. 2, hosting Augsburg for a 7 p.m. start on Faculty Night at Skoglund Center. The Auggies are ranked No. 14 this week by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).