ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team opened its season by splitting a pair of four-set matches against nationally-ranked teams, defeating No. 23-ranked Otterbein University before falling to sixth-ranked Hope College on Friday at the WashU Bear Invite.

St. Olaf (1-1) began the day by posting a 25-20, 25-23, 25-27, 25-20 victory over Otterbein (0-1) thanks, in part, to 13 blocks in the win. In the evening, the Oles rebounded from dropping a one-sided opening set to level the match with Hope (1-0) at a set apiece before the Flying Dutch grabbed a 25-6, 17-25, 25-21, 25-22 win.

The win over Otterbein was St. Olaf's seventh against a nationally-ranked opponent under eighth-year head coach Emily Foster. On day two of the tournament, St. Olaf faces Webster University at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 2.

St. Olaf 3, No. 23 Otterbein 1 | Box Score

To start the day, St. Olaf opened up a two-set lead before Otterbein won the third set in extra points, but the Oles recovered in the fourth to close out the match in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Senior Anysia Caille led three Oles in double figures in kills with 13 and added eight block assists in the win.

Junior Maycie Rogers and senior Catherine Moore joined Caille in double figures in kills with 12 and 11, respectively. Sophomore Paige Christophersen tallied 22 assists, seven digs, and two aces, while first year Skylar Fildew chipped in with 19 assists, seven digs, and one ace.

Defensively, fifth-year senior Selena Rodriguez recorded a team-high 17 digs to go with two aces, while sophomore Morgan Ryan registered a career-high seven aces and 10 digs. Senior Erica Collin was in on 12 of St. Olaf's 13 blocks in the match with one solo block and 11 block assists. Collin's 12 total blocks are the most by an Ole in a match since 2003, while the team's 13 total blocks were its most since also having 13 in a five-set win at Coe on Sept. 20, 2019.

The Oles hit a match-best .280 on their way to winning the opening set by a 25-20 margin. St. Olaf jumped out to a 4-0 lead to prompt an early timeout by the Cardinals and never trailed in the set. Rogers, Caille, and Moore had three kills apiece and the Oles had five blocks in the opening set.

Trailing 9-8 in set two, St. Olaf won six points in a row to take a 14-9 lead midway through, but Otterbein hung around by using a 7-2 run to even the set at 16-16. The Oles re-established a four-point lead at 23-19 only for the Cardinals to win the next four points to tie it up again. St. Olaf benefited from a ball-handling error to bring up set point and closed out the set on a kill by Caille to build a two-set-to-none cushion.

Otterbein held a 20-15 lead late in the third before St. Olaf won seven-straight points, including four consecutive aces by Ryan, to get within three points of the victory. The Cardinals saved two match points at 24-22 and 24-23 before eventually grabbing the set by a 27-25 margin thanks, in part, to limiting the Oles to a .070 attack percentage in the set.

Rogers had six of her 12 kills in the fourth set to help St. Olaf finish off the win in a set that included 10 ties. After trailing 14-13, the Oles used a 6-2 run to open up a 19-16 lead and led by at least two the rest of the way, eventually wrapping up the win on back-to-back kills by Moore. St. Olaf sided out at an 80.0 percent clip (16-for-20) in the final set.

No. 6 Hope 3, St. Olaf 1 | Box Score

After Hope raced through the opening set, St. Olaf got it going in the second set, hitting a match-best .360 to even the match at a set apiece, but Hope regrouped and won tight sets in the third and fourth to win just the second match between the two programs since 1994.

First year Lilah Van Scoyoc was the lone Ole in double figures in kills with 10 on 25 swings while hitting .280. Caille added nine kills and Moore contributed seven in the loss. Christophersen logged a double-double of 15 assists, 11 digs, three kills, and two aces, while Rodriguez tallied a team-high 15 digs. Ryan added 12 digs as well.

The Flying Dutch won the first 10 points of the match to take a sizable lead and went on to hit .700 (14-0-20) in the set. After hitting -.087 in the opening set, the Oles heated up to .360 in the second set and held Hope to a .111 clip to even the match at a set apiece. Already holding a slender 9-8 lead, St. Olaf used an 8-0 run on Rodriguez's serve to open up a 17-8 lead and led by at least six points for the rest of the set.

In the third, Hope hit just .059 but found a way to claim the set to take the lead once again. The Oles led 15-13 before the Flying Dutch won six-straight points and 10 of the next 12 on their way to a 25-21 set victory. St. Olaf was up by a point at 19-18 late in the fourth set, but Hope won six of the next seven points to bring up a string of match points. The Oles saved two match points on kills by Collin and Caille before a service error ended the match.