NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The fourth-seeded St. Olaf College volleyball team advanced to the semifinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs with a 23-25, 25-16, 25-6, 25-18 victory over fifth-seeded Augsburg University in the quarterfinals on Wednesday evening at Skoglund Center.

After Augsburg (15-13) won a close first set, St. Olaf (14-12) won the final three sets to book its spot in the semifinals for the third time in the last four editions of the MIAC Playoffs. The Oles will head to top-seeded Gustavus in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. in St. Peter.

Friday night's other semifinal will see third-seeded Hamline visit second-seeded Bethel after the Pipers outlasted sixth-seeded Saint Ben's in five sets at home in the other quarterfinal.

Senior Katelyn Lannom led the way offensively for St. Olaf with a season-high 15 kills out of the middle, while first year Madison Gully added 13 kills with just one error to hit .522 on the outside. Junior Christina Cheng and sophomore Catherine Moore had nine kills apiece as the Oles hit .287 in the win.

Senior Brynne Gray and first year Waverly Thao combined for 50 assists, with Gray having 26 and Thao adding 24. Junior Selena Rodriguez recorded a match-high 17 digs to go along with a career-high nine aces and six assists, while Cheng added 14 digs to her nine kills and sophomore Kylie Reardon contributed 12 digs.

Augsburg grabbed a tight opening set that featured 12 ties and six lead changes, using a late 4-1 run to open up a 23-19 lead. Trailing 24-21, St. Olaf saved two set points on back-to-back kills by Gully before the Auggies closed out the set on a kill by Kevin Boysen. Augsburg hit .258, its highest percentage of the night, in the set to win it despite seven kills on 10 errorless swings from Gully.

The Oles forced the Auggies into two early timeouts in the second set by stretching a 7-6 lead into a 14-7 advantage with a 7-1 run that included back-to-back aces by Rodriguez. St. Olaf led by at least six points for the rest of the set to even the match at a set apiece, as Augsburg cooled off to a .125 attack percentage in the set.

Rodriguez had five aces in a seven-point span during a 10-0 run in the second set that put the Oles ahead by a 20-4 margin. St. Olaf hit a blistering .526 with 11 kills and one error on 19 swings in the set, while Augsburg hit -.067 with four kills and five errors on 11 attempts.

Leading two sets to one, the Oles kept their foot on the pedal in the fourth, winning 10-of-11 points to turn a 9-6 lead into a 19-7 cushion. The Auggies hung around by winning the next six points to get within six, 19-13, but St. Olaf quickly pushed its lead back to nine at 23-14. Augsburg again fought back with a 4-0 run to get within five before kills from Gully and junior Nicole Banitt finished off the four-set win for the Oles.