NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The second-seeded St. Olaf College volleyball team booked its spot in the championship match of the 2022 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Volleyball Playoffs by sweeping third-seeded St. Catherine University, 25-18, 25-19, 25-20, in the semifinals on Thursday evening at Skoglund Center.

St. Olaf (16-12) returned to the championship match for the second time in three non-COVID seasons by hitting .317 and limiting St. Kate's (18-8) to a .165 clip to earn its fifth win in its last six matches. The win was also the Oles' 11th in a row in the series with the Wildcats and the team's 16th-straight home win in the series dating all the way back to 1990.

The Oles will head to St. Peter to take on top-seeded and No. 14-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College for the MIAC Playoffs title and the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. The Gusties swept the fifth-seeded College of Saint Benedict in Thursday night's other semifinal.

Junior Catherine Moore recorded a match-high 14 kills with just one error while hitting .542 for St. Olaf and has hit over .500 in three of the Oles' last five matches. Outside of Moore's big night, five Oles had either six or seven kills. First year Paige Christophersen registered 23 assists to go with eight aces and classmate Taylin Gosch added 15 assists.

Senior Selena Rodriguez made a match-high 16 digs defensively for St. Olaf and first year Tatum Sims contributed nine digs, seven kills, and three assists. Fifth-year senior Katelyn Lannom and first year Morgan Ryan each had three of the Oles' eight aces in the win.

St. Olaf raced out to a 6-1 lead and never trailed on its way to winning the opening set, 25-18. Moore and sophomore Maycie Rogers each had two kills in the 6-1 start and the Oles went on to lead by as many as nine on two occasions before wrapping up the set with a .481 attack percentage.

The Wildcats won four of the first five points in the second set, but the Oles grabbed a 6-4 lead with a 5-0 run and never relinquished the advance the rest of the set. Late in the set, St. Olaf built a 21-13 lead before St. Kate's won five-straight points to get back within three. Junior Anysia Caille snapped the Wildcats' run with a kill and added one on set point to give the Oles a 2-0 lead.

Neither team led by more than three points in the third set until St. Olaf took a 19-15 lead with a 6-1 run that included three-straight aces by Ryan. St. Kate's battled back from a 21-16 deficit to get within one at 21-20 but did not win a point the rest of the way, as St. Olaf got kills from Sims, Moore, Rogers, and Lannom to finish off the sweep. Moore had six kills in the final set.