NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team secured its fourth-straight berth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs with a 27-25, 25-15, 28-26 road win over Saint Mary's University on Wednesday evening at Saint Mary's Gymnasium.

St. Olaf (12-12, 7-3 MIAC) entered the night needing one win from its final two regular-season matches to clinch a playoff spot and took care of business by winning the first and third sets in extra points on its way to the sweep of Saint Mary's (7-19, 3-7 MIAC). The victory meant the Oles can be no worse than the No. 4 seed in next week's MIAC Playoffs and will host a quarterfinal match on Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.

The playoff berth is the 12th in program history for St. Olaf (2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021), which has won the tournament on three occasions (2000, 2002, 2010).

Senior Katelyn Lannom and junior Nicole Banitt had 13 kills apiece while both hitting over .500 for St. Olaf as the duo combined to hit .535 in the win out of the middle. Sophomore Catherine Moore was also in double figures in kills with 10 for the Oles, who hit .303 in the win.

Junior Selena Rodriguez had a match-high 17 digs to go with five assists and two aces, while sophomore Kylie Reardon added nine digs and two aces. Senior Brynne Gray recorded 26 assists to go with 11 digs and first year Waverly Thao added 12 assists.

The Oles hit .310 in the opening set but needed extra points to win it, 27-25. The Cardinals fought back from late deficits of 20-17 and 23-21 to tie the set at 25-25 before St. Olaf won the final two points. Banitt was one of five Oles with multiple kills in the set with five and Rodriguez added seven digs defensively early on.

St. Olaf carried the momentum over into the second set, racing out to an 8-1 lead on its way to a 25-15 set win. Saint Mary's quickly cut the Oles' lead to one, 8-7, with a 6-0 run but St. Olaf won nine of 10 points to turn a 9-8 edge into an 18-9 lead later in the set. The Oles hit at a .357 clip and had five aces in the set, including both of Reardon's aces in the match.

Looking to extend the match, the Cardinals led 18-14 in the third set before a late rally helped St. Olaf close out the match in three sets. Trailing 23-20, the Oles went on a 4-0 run, including back-to-back kills by junior Christina Cheng, to bring up match point. Saint Mary's saved match points at 24-23, 25-24, and 26-25 before kills by Lannom and Moore ended the match. Lannom had six kills on 10 errorless swings in the third set.

St. Olaf closes out the regular season by hosting crosstown-rival Carleton for Senior Night on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 6 p.m.