ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team used a 7-1 run midway through the decider to record a 16-25, 25-23, 25-17, 15-25, 15-11 victory over Wartburg College to open the Region IX Invitational at Bethel University's Robertson Center on Friday.

After Wartburg (5-4) fought back from a two-sets-to-one deficit to force a fifth set and opened up a 7-5 lead in the decider, St. Olaf (4-4) won seven of the next eight points during the decisive run that gave the Oles a 12-8 cushion. The win was St. Olaf's first in the series since 2010, as the Knights had won 30 of the last 31 head-to-head sets between the two programs since the last Ole win.

In a matchup of two teams receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25, St. Olaf limited Wartburg to a season-low .166 attack percentage in the match to improve to 3-1 in five-set matches this season. The Knights, who entered the match ranked No. 21 in the country with a .251 attack percentage as a team, hit under .050 in the second and third sets.

Senior Selena Rodriguez paced the Oles defensively with a team-high 19 digs to go along with five assists and two aces. St. Olaf used a balanced offensive attack led by junior Catherine Moore's 11 kills and nine from first year Tatum Sims. Fifth-year senior Katelyn Lannom added eight kills as well.

First year Paige Christophersen handed out 27 assists to go with seven digs and an aces, while classmate Taylin Gosch had 11 assists, eight digs, and one ace. Wartburg held statistical advantages in kills (52-45), aces (11-8), blocks (9-3), assists (48-45), and digs (67-64) in the match.

Both teams posted their best attack percentages of the match in the opening set, as Wartburg hit .393 and St. Olaf hit .308, but the Knights got out to a 3-0 lead and never trailed in the set. Wartburg had four aces in the set and led by as many as the final margin of nine.

The Knights opened up a 14-9 lead in the second set before the Oles rallied over the second half of the set to even the match at a set apiece. Trailing 16-12, St. Olaf rattled off five-straight points – four on errors by Wartburg – to grab a one-point lead. Late in the set, the teams were tied for the ninth time with the score even at 22-22 before the Oles won three of the final four points, ending the set on Moore's fourth kill of the set.

St. Olaf limited Wartburg to a .029 attack percentage in the third and six Oles had at least one kill to give St. Olaf a two-sets-to-one lead. The Oles broke a 9-9 tie with a 6-0 run to take the lead for good and led by at least four the rest of the way.
In the fourth, the Knights had six aces and held the Oles to a -.032 hitting clip to send the match the distance. St. Olaf led 8-4 early and held a 14-13 lead until Wartburg won 10 points in a row to blow the set open.

The Oles trailed 7-5 near the midway point of the fifth set before winning the next five points as part of the decisive 7-1 run. First year Morgan Ryan had two aces to help ignite the run, junior Anysia Caille followed with back-to-back kills, and Rodriguez capped it with an ace to give St. Olaf a 12-8 lead. The Knights won the next two points to get back within two, but was as close as they would get. The fifth set included six ties and five lead changes.

St. Olaf faces Cornell College (2 p.m.) and Bethel University (4 p.m.) on day two of the tournament. The Rams swept the Oles last weekend in Iowa, while St. Olaf and Bethel will meet in a non-conference match for the first of two meetings this season.