NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Sophomore Lilah Van Scoyoc tallied a career-high 21 kills to lead the St. Olaf College volleyball team to a 25-18, 25-18, 23-25, 25-18 victory over Hamline University in its home opener on Saturday at Bob Gelle Court at Skoglund Center.

Van Scoyoc picked up 21 kills and 15 digs for her fifth double-double in a row for St. Olaf (10-4, 1-1 MIAC), which recovered from losing a late lead in the third set to close out Hamline (7-9, 0-2 MIAC) in the fourth. The 21-kill effort was the sophomore's ninth match in a row with at least 10 kills, and seven of those nine matches have been double-doubles.

First year Mehsa Krause collected 13 kills, while sophomore Maren Miller picked up 12 kills and was in on four blocks. Van Scoyoc, Krause, and Miller accounted for 46 of St. Olaf's 62 kills in the win and all hit at least .333 on the afternoon.

Junior Morgan Ryan led the Oles' defensively with 27 digs for her seventh match in a row with at least 20 digs and also had four assists and three aces. Senior Kathryn Deist added 15 digs to help St. Olaf limit Hamline to a .135 attack percentage in the match.

St. Olaf did not trail in either of the first two sets on its way to a two-sets-to-none advantage. The Oles got out to a 7-2 lead in the first set and a 6-0 lead in the second set and made the early cushions hold up in each set. St. Olaf held Hamline to a .113 attack percentage in the first set before hitting .389 in the second set.

In the third, the Oles appeared poised to sweep the Pipers before the visitors rallied late in the set to stay alive. St. Olaf held leads of 18-10 and 21-14, but Hamline won 11 of the final 13 points of the set to extend the match to a fourth set despite six kills in the set by Miller.

For the first time in the match, the Pipers got out to a lead early in the fourth with a 7-4 edge, but St. Olaf grabbed the lead midway through the set with a 5-1 run to go up 16-12. The Oles put together another 5-1 run to increase their lead to six at 20-14 on back-to-back kills by Krause on their way to a third 25-18 set win of the match. Ryan had 11 digs and Van Scoyoc tallied six kills in the fourth set alone.

St. Olaf will hit the road for a meeting with Saint Mary's on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. in Winona.