STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team split a pair of five-setters on Saturday at the Pointers Invitational, defeating St. Norbert College before falling to Carthage College at Quandt Fieldhouse.

In its first match of the day, St. Olaf (6-8), hit an even .500 in the deciding set to claim a 22-25, 25-21, 25-7, 12-25, 15-8 victory over St. Norbert (6-7). In match number two, the Oles outhit Carthage (11-4) by a .258-.229 margin, but fell in five sets by a 30-28, 23-25, 25-20, 13-25, 15-10 margin.

After the tournament, junior Catherine Moore was named to the nine-member All-Tournament Team. Moore was in double figures in kills in all three of St. Olaf's matches, finishing the weekend with 39 kills and a .287 attack percentage.

St. Olaf 3, St. Norbert 2 | Box Score

Fifth-year senior Katelyn Lannom had a season-high 15 kills on 22 swings to hit .636 and was also in on four blocks to help St. Olaf to the win over St. Norbert. Juniors Anysia Caille and Moore were also in double figures in kills with 13 and 10, respectively.

First year Paige Christophersen handed out 27 assists and classmate Taylin Gosch added 15, while seniors Christina Cheng and Selena Rodriguez were in double figures in digs with 15 and 13, respectively. St. Olaf hit .277 in the match as a team, including hitting at least .500 in the third and fifth sets.

The Oles raced out to a 5-1 lead in the opening set behind a pair of early kills by Lannom, but the Green Knights quickly grabbed the lead at 6-5. Trailing 18-14, St. Olaf used a 4-1 run to get within a point at 19-18, but could not pull even, as St. Norbert claimed the opener, 25-22.

Midway through the second set, St. Olaf turned a 14-13 deficit into an 18-15 lead with a 5-1 run and stretched its lead to 22-16 shortly thereafter with a 4-0 run. The six-point cushion was more than enough for the Oles to even the match at a set apiece by taking the second, 25-21.

In the third, St. Olaf had 12 kills and one error on 21 swings to hit .524 as a team, while St. Norbert had just three kills and four errors on 20 swings to hit -.050. The Oles won the first seven points of the set behind Cheng's serve and used a 7-0 run on Christophersen's serve late on to lead 24-6.

St. Norbert bounced back in the fourth set, hitting .615 with 16 kills on 26 errorless swings to even the match at a set apiece with a 25-12 set win. St. Olaf responded in the fifth, however, by hitting an even .500. The Oles used a 4-1 spurt to build a 12-7 advantage and finished off the win by winning the final three points, sealed with an ace by first year Tatum Sims.

Carthage 3, St. Olaf 2 | Box Score

Caille had a career-high-tying 15 kills while hitting .500 and Moore added 13 kills, as St. Olaf fought back from dropping the first and third sets to even the match on two occasions but could not find a way to win the decider.

Senior Nicole Banitt added eight kills on 14 errorless swings for the Oles, while Lannom and Cheng had seven apiece. Christophersen and Gosch both recorded 25 assists, with Christophersen adding four aces, and Rodriguez led the team with 14 digs.

St. Olaf hit .375 in the first set, but Carthage hit even better at .464 to take a lengthy opening set in extra points, 30-28. The Oles held an 18-14 lead before the Firebirds took control by winning 10 of the next 14 points to bring up two set points. St. Olaf saved the initial two set points on a kill by Moore and an ace by Sims and had a set point of its own at 26-25, but Carthage broke a 28-28 tie with back-to-back kills to grab the set.

In the second, it was St. Olaf's turn to grab a set decided by two points, overcoming an early 11-7 deficit to even the match at a set apiece. Trailing 16-15, the Oles won six of the next seven points to take a four-point lead, only for the Firebirds to even the set at 22-22 and 23-23. St. Olaf won the final two points of the set on a kill by Moore and a Carthage attack error.

The Firebirds put together a 9-2 run in the middle stages of the third set to open up a 19-14 lead on its way to a 25-20 set win. In the fourth, St. Olaf held Carthage to a -.083 attack percentage to run away with a 25-13 set win and force the match to a fifth. The Oles led 5-3 early in the decider before the Firebirds went on a decisive 8-1 run to take the lead for good.

St. Olaf returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play on Wednesday, Sept. 28 with a 7 p.m. match at Macalester College.