NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Fifth-year senior
Katelyn Lannom reached the 1,000-kill milestone for her career, as the St. Olaf College volleyball team recorded a 25-20, 18-25, 25-19, 25-15 victory over visiting Hamline University on Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night on Wednesday evening at Skoglund Center.
Lannom entered the match needing three kills to reach the landmark number and got three kills in the opening set as part of an 11-kill night for St. Olaf (10-10, 3-2 MIAC), which received votes in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll. The win was the Oles' sixth in a row in the series with Hamline (3-18, 0-5 MIAC).
The 11-kill performance made Lannom the 18th student-athlete in program history to record 1,000 kills in her career. Sophomore
Maycie Rogers added a career-high 12 kills while hitting .458 and senior
Nicole Banitt matched Rogers with a match-high 12 kills while hitting .550.
Defensively, senior
Selena Rodriguez made a team-high 14 digs for the Oles, who got 13 digs from first year
Morgan Ryan and 10 from senior
Christina Cheng. First year
Tatum Sims had four of St. Olaf's seven aces in the match, while classmate
Paige Christophersen added a team-best 26 assists.
In the opening set, the Oles jumped out to a 7-4 lead and never trailed, hitting .282 to take the set by a 25-20 margin. St. Olaf started to pull away midway through the set with a 5-1 run to take a 16-10 lead and held off a late rally by Hamline, which cut a 22-16 deficit to 22-20 with a 4-0 run late on.
The second set featured 12 ties and five lead changes, but it was Hamline who broke a 15-15 tie with a decisive 5-0 run to take command. The Oles won three of the next four points to get within three, but the Pipers won the final four points out of their timeout to even the match at a set apiece.
St. Olaf held Hamline to a .027 attack percentage in the third set to take a two-sets-to-one lead. Sims had two aces as part of a 5-0 run midway through the set that gave the Oles a 16-10 lead. Trailing 20-13, the Pipers won four-straight points to cut their deficit to three but could get no closer.
In the fourth, St. Olaf hit a match-best .316 with 13 kills and just one error to finish off the four-set victory. Banitt had five kills on seven errorless swings in the set and Rogers added four on seven errorless attacks, as the Oles broke the set open with a 6-0 run to go ahead 13-6. Hamline won the next four points to pull within three at 13-10, but that was as close as the visitors would get. St. Olaf closed the match on a 5-0 run that included a pair of kills by Banitt.
The Oles play back-to-back home matches on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 14-15, beginning with hosting Bethel University for Parent Night at 7 p.m. on Friday.
