NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team nearly recorded its second win over a nationally-ranked team in four days but fell to No. 22-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College by a 18-25, 17-25, 25-21, 28-26, 15-11 score on Saturday afternoon at Skoglund Center.

Coming off a four-set win over the No. 4-ranked University of Northwestern on Wednesday evening, St. Olaf (9-10, 2-2 MIAC) took the first two sets before Gustavus (16-4, 5-0 MIAC) got its offense going over the final three sets to continue its unbeaten start to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play. The Oles also won the first two sets against the Gusties in last season's regular-season meeting before Gustavus rallied for the win.

Senior Selena Rodriguez entered the match just one dig shy of the 1,000-dig milestone for her career and quickly hit the landmark as part of a 24-dig afternoon. Rodriguez became the 17th Ole in recorded program history to reach the milestone and was one of four Oles in double figures in digs in the match, including first year Morgan Ryan, who had 16 digs to go with four aces.

Offensively, senior Nicole Banitt had a season-high 15 kills – one shy of her career-high total – and committed just one attack error to hit .412 in the match, while fifth-year senior Katelyn Lannom added 14 kills and only one error to hit .464. Lannom added five of St. Olaf's season-high 15 aces and is just three kills shy of the 1,000-kill milestone in her career.

Junior Catherine Moore and sophomore Maycie Rogers were also in doubles figures in kills with 12 and 10, respectively, while first years Paige Christophersen and Taylin Gosch combined for 55 assists. Christophersen recorded 30 assists and three aces, while Gosch logged a double-double of 25 assists and 12 digs.

The Oles had seven aces in the opening set on their way to a 25-18 set win, as Lannom delivered three aces during a 6-2 start to the match for St. Olaf. Midway through the set, the Oles took a 15-9 lead thanks to a 6-0 run on Christophersen's serve. Gustavus battled back late in the set to climb within one at 19-18, but St. Olaf won the final six points of the set.

In the second set, the Oles recorded their highest attack percentage of the match at .270 and got five kills from Moore and 10 digs from Rodriguez to go up two sets to none. Trailing 10-7, St. Olaf won eight of the next nine points to take the lead for good and Ryan later sealed the set with an ace.

After hitting a combined .054 in the first two sets, Gustavus got its offense going in the third, hitting .292 to extend the match to a fourth set. The Oles won nine-straight points to tie the set at 19-19, but the Gusties won six of the final eight points of the set.

The fourth set featured 21 ties and eight lead changes, as neither team led by more than two points the entire set. St. Olaf was five points from the win at 20-18 before Gustavus won back-to-back points to set up a back-and-forth conclusion to the set. The Oles saved set points at 24-23, 25-24, and 26-25 before the Gusties got back-to-back kills to send the match to a decider.

In the fifth, Gustavus did not commit at attack error while St. Olaf had seven that ultimately swung the match in favor of the visitors. The Oles got out to an early lead at 5-2 before the Gusties won eight of the next 10 points to grab a 10-7 lead. St. Olaf battled back to tie the set at 11-11 on consecutive kills by Moore and Rogers but did not win a point the rest of the way.

The Oles continue their four-match homestand against Hamline University on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. at Skoglund Center.