NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team won a pair of tight sets to start the match before coasting in the third to sweep non-conference foe Luther College by scores of 25-23, 25-23, 25-13 on Friday evening at Skoglund Center.
In the first meeting between the two programs since 2018, St. Olaf (14-6) hit .304 and got 26 combined kills from first year
Mehsa Krause and sophomore
Lilah Van Scoyoc to top Luther (5-14) on Attack Cancer Night. The Norse had nine aces in the three-set match but could not overcome a .135 attack percentage.
Van Scoyoc reached double figures in kills for the 14th match in a row with a match-high 15 for the Oles, while Krause piled up 11 kills while hitting .429. First year
Carlie Beckstrand hit .412 with seven kills on 17 errorless swings as well. Junior
Paige Christophersen handed out 25 assists to go with two kills, two aces, and six digs.
Senior
Kathryn Deist recorded a match-high 14 digs for St. Olaf, which got 11 digs from junior
Morgan Ryan. Junior
Dori Hobbie was in on a team-high three blocks, as St. Olaf limited Luther to a .062 attack percentage over the final two sets.
The Oles won 20 of their 25 points in the opening set via kill, with sophomore
Maren Miller, Beckstrand, Krause, and Van Scoyoc all tallying four or five kills in the set. After trailing 10-6 early, St. Olaf took a 22-19 lead with a 6-2 run later on and held off Luther late to take it 25-23. The Norse got within a point at 23-22 and 24-23, but Van Scoyoc answered with a kill on both occasions.
The second set featured 13 ties and eight lead changes, as St. Olaf again staved off a late Luther run for a second consecutive 25-23 set win. The Norse held an 18-17 advantage before the Oles won seven of the next eight points to bring up a string of set points with a 24-19 lead. Luther saved four consecutive set points before a service error gave the set to St. Olaf.
In the third, the Oles got out to leads of 3-0 and 9-3 and never trailed on their way to finishing off the sweep. Van Scoyoc had six of her 15 kills in the match in the final set, while Luther had just four kills and hit -.077.
St. Olaf is back at home for another non-conference match on Saturday, Oct. 19 when Martin Luther College visits Skoglund Center for a 6 p.m. start.
