NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team dealt No. 24-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular-season loss in nearly four years with a 25-14, 25-17, 20-25, 12-25, 15-12 victory on Friday night at Skoglund Center.
After St. Olaf (15-6, 5-0 MIAC) won the first two sets comfortably, Gustavus (16-5, 2-1 MIAC) battled back to win the third and fourth sets to force a decider. In the fifth, the Oles overcame a 10-8 deficit by winning seven of the final nine points to snap the Gusties' 44-match MIAC regular-season winning streak that spanned 1,476 days. The win was the third over a nationally-ranked team this season for St. Olaf, which also defeated No. 17 Millikin University on Sept. 6 and No. 1 UW-Whitewater on Sept. 20.
Prior to Friday night, Gustavus' last loss in a MIAC regular-season match was a five-set defeat to Hamline University on Sept. 25, 2021. The Gusties were 50-1 against MIAC opposition over that stretch, with the lone loss coming to the College of Saint Benedict in the semifinals of the MIAC Playoffs last fall. Gustavus was ranked No. 24 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll, while the Oles received votes in the balloting.
Junior
Evelyn Kreft tallied a match- and career-high 17 kills to lead three Oles in double figures on the night. Junior
Maren Miller recorded 12 kills, hit .526, and was in on seven total blocks, while junior
Lilah Van Scoyoc added 12 kills of her own.
Senior
Paige Christophersen handed out a season-high 32 assists, while sophomore
Sophie Saxton had 21 assists to go with six digs and three aces. Senior
Morgan Ryan tallied 25 digs, three assists, and a pair of aces as well.
St. Olaf started the opening set on a 6-2 run and did not trail from there on its way to a 25-14 set win. The Oles led by just two at 10-8 before winning 15 of the final 21 points of the set, holding Gustavus to a -.026 attack percentage in the set in the process.
The second set was a similar story, as the Oles took a 5-2 lead early and never relinquished the advantage. Kreft recorded five kills on eight errorless swings in the set, as St. Olaf hit .387 with 16 kills on its way to a two-sets-to-none advantage.
After hitting .015 over the first two sets combined, Gustavus hit .343 with 13 kills and just one error in the third set but needed a late push to stay alive. The Gusties broke a 19-19 tie by winning six of the last seven points of the set to extend the match. Gustavus delivered eight aces in a dominant 25-12 victory in the fourth to set up a decisive fifth set.
The visitors opened the fifth by winning the first three points and held a 10-8 lead shortly after the change of ends. St. Olaf fought back to take an 11-10 lead on an ace by senior
Dori Hobbie, but the Gusties forced a 12-12 tie. The Oles broke the tie with a block by Miller and Krause before finishing off the win on a kill and solo block by Kreft on consecutive points.
St. Olaf's next match will be a home date with Macalester College on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m.
