NORTHFIELD, Minn. – In its second-straight match against a nationally-ranked foe, the St. Olaf College volleyball team dropped three close sets to No. 20-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play on Friday night at Skoglund Center.

Coming off a reverse sweep of the fourth-ranked University of Northwestern on Wednesday evening, St. Olaf (14-8, 3-4 MIAC) saw its season-best five-match winning streak come to an end by scores of 25-22, 26-24, 25-22 at the hands of Gustavus (19-6, 7-0 MIAC). The victory was the Gusties' 12th in the last 13 head-to-head matchups between the two programs.

Senior Anysia Caille registered a team-high 12 kills for St. Olaf, while classmate Catherine Moore added 11, but the Oles could not overcome 27 attack errors in the match, compared to just 11 for the Gusties. First year Lilah Van Scoyoc added nine kills for St. Olaf, which hit just .122 on the night.

Sophomore Paige Christophersen put together her 10th double-double of the season with 18 assists and 11 digs, while first year Skylar Fildew had 23 assists, two aces, and six digs. Fifth-year senior Selena Rodriguez made a match-high 22 digs to go with four assists and an ace, while sophomore Morgan Ryan added 18 digs and an ace.

The first set featured 12 ties and seven lead changes, as neither team led by more than two until Gustavus went on a 6-1 run to take a 19-14 advantage. St. Olaf responded with a 7-1 run of its own, with Van Scoyoc recording three kills in the run, to take a 21-20 lead, but the Gusties won five of the final six points of the set to grab it, 25-22. Moore and Van Scoyoc had six kills apiece in the set for the Oles, while Rodriguez made 11 digs.

Gustavus had 19 kills and hit a match-high .292 in the second set but needed extra points to claim a 2-0 lead. After trailing 11-5, the Oles used an 8-1 run midway through the set to take a 17-15 lead and continued to hold the two-point advantage at 22-20. The Gusties won four of the next five points to bring up set point that St. Olaf saved on an attack error, but Gustavus got kills on the next two points to claim a two-set-to-none advantage.

The visitors surged out to a 7-0 lead to start the third set before the Oles gradually fought back to get within two points at 19-17. Later, St. Olaf pulled even at 21-21 and 22-22, but Gustavus won the final three points to close out the sweep.

The Oles look to start a new winning streak with a trip to Macalester College on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m.