CHICAGO, Ill. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team completed a 3-1 showing at the University of Chicago's Gargoyle Classic by splitting five-set matches against No. 25-ranked UChicago and Whitworth University on Saturday at Ratner Athletics Center.

In the opener, St. Olaf (3-1) twice rallied from a set down to extend the match with UChicago (2-1) to a decider, but the Maroons used an 8-3 start to the decider to claim a 25-21, 26-28, 25-12, 21-25, 15-10 victory. Facing a quick turnaround, the Oles found themselves in a two-sets-to-one hole against Whitworth (2-1) before rallying for a 25-20, 15-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-7 victory.

The split capped a 3-1 weekend for St. Olaf and all four of the Oles' opponents were either ranked or received votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll.

St. Olaf heads to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for three matches next weekend at Coe College, beginning with a 5 p.m. match against the host Kohawks on Friday, Sept. 9.

No. 25 UChicago 3, St. Olaf 2 | Box Score

The Oles fought back from dropping the first and third sets to send the match the distance against the Maroons but could not catch up after falling behind early in the fifth. Trailing 8-3, St. Olaf won the next two points but that was as close as the Oles could get.

Senior Christina Cheng tallied a double-double of 15 kills and 23 digs to lead St. Olaf in kills and tie for the team lead in digs with senior Selena Rodriguez and first year Morgan Ryan. Fifth-year senior Katelyn Lannom added 14 kills and four aces while hitting .308. First years Paige Christophersen (29 assists, nine digs) and Taylin Gosch (19 assists, nine digs) both fell just one dig shy of double-doubles.

Diya Mishra had a match-high 17 kills and just one error on 23 swings to hit .696 for UChicago, which got 14 kills from Ellie Alden. The Maroons hit .227 in the win and held the Oles to a .126 clip.

The hosts hit an even .500 with 17 kills and just one error on 32 attempts to take the opening set by a 25-21 margin. St. Olaf was within a point at 14-13 before UChicago rattled off five-straight points and led by at least three the rest of the way.

The Oles surged out to a 6-1 lead early in the second set before the Maroons built an 18-12 lead with an 8-0 run later in the set. After fighting back to get within 24-22, St. Olaf saved three set points and eventually won the final three points of the set on kills by Cheng, first year Tatum Sims, and Lannom to even the match at a set apiece. Lannom had six kills on 10 errorless swings in the set.

UChicago jumped out to a 9-4 lead to start the third set and never looked back, holding St. Olaf to a .000 attack percentage to take a two-sets-to-one lead. In the fourth, it was the Oles' turn to hold the Maroons to a .000 attack percentage, as St. Olaf overcame early deficits of 6-1 and 10-3 to push the match to a fifth set before coming up short in the decider.

St. Olaf 3, Whitworth 2 | Box Score

In the first meeting between the two programs since 2010 and the third overall in the series, St. Olaf took the first set before Whitworth claimed the next two sets to take a two-sets-to-one lead. The Oles broke a 23-23 tie late in the fourth to force a fifth set and hit .333 in the decider to close out the weekend with a win.

Cheng posted her second double-double of the day with a team-high 15 kills and 10 digs for St. Olaf, which got 11 kills from Sims and 10 from junior Catherine Moore. Rodriguez anchored the Oles' defense with 28 digs and three aces, Christophersen had 27 assists and seven digs, and Gosch recorded 21 assists and six digs.

Trailing 11-10 in the first set, St. Olaf won five of the next six points to take a 15-12 lead that it protected for the rest of the set. Whitworth got within two points five times but could never get any closer at the tail end of the set, as the Oles finished off the set with an ace by Gosch.

The Pirates committed just six combined errors in the second and third sets, taking the second by a commanding 25-15 score and the third by a 25-22 margin to take the lead. Down by a set, St. Olaf jumped out to a 10-2 lead at the start of the fourth, but Whitworth answered with a 9-1 run of its own to even the set at 11-11. With the fourth tied at 23-23 and the Pirates two points from the win, Cheng gave the Oles a set point with a kill and Rodriguez followed with an ace to prolong the match.

Sims had back-to-back kills as part of an 8-2 start to the fifth set for St. Olaf, but Whitworth kept in touch by winning four of the next five points to trail just 9-6. The Pirates won just one point the rest of the way, however, as Cheng and junior Anysia Caille each had two kills in a 6-1 close to the match for the Oles. Whitworth had just two kills and two errors on 20 attack attempts in the fifth.