NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team secured at least a share of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular-season title with a five-set (32-30, 22-25, 25-15, 23-25, 15-10) victory over Augsburg University before dropping a four-set match (25-12, 25-20, 24-26, 25-17) to fourth-ranked UW-Eau Claire on Saturday at Skoglund Center.

In its first match of the day, St. Olaf (22-6, 10-0 MIAC) outlasted Augsburg (9-18, 4-6 MIAC) in five sets to clinch at least a share of its first MIAC regular-season title since 2010 and the sixth conference crown in program history (1993-96, 2001, 2010). Later, the Oles gutted out a tight third set against No. 4 UW-Eau Claire (26-2) before the Blugolds closed out the match in four.

St. Olaf, which will be the No. 1 seed in the MIAC Playoffs, can lock up an outright MIAC regular-season title by winning its final conference match at the College of St. Scholastica on Saturday, Nov. 8. Before that, the Oles will host Bethany Lutheran College for a non-conference match on Senior Night on Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.

St. Olaf 3, Augsburg 2 | Box Score

Junior Evelyn Kreft, sophomore Carlie Beckstrand, and sophomore Mehsa Krause combined for 43 kills to lead St. Olaf to the conference-clinching win over Augsburg. The Auggies twice battled back from a set down to even the match before the Oles took the decider by a 15-10 margin.

Kreft racked up 16 kills, Beckstrand had 14 while hitting .344, and Krause posted a double-double of 13 kills, 20 digs, and two aces for St. Olaf. Senior Paige Christophersen logged 35 assists, 13 digs, three kills, and four aces, while sophomore Sophie Saxton added a double-double of 16 assists and 10 digs. Senior Morgan Ryan had a match-high 29 digs to go with eight assists and two aces.

St. Olaf held a 23-16 lead late in the first set before Augsburg came storming back to force the set to extra points. Seniors Holly Jelinek and Dori Hobbie kept in the Oles in the set with a block to tie it at 25-25 before Jelinek saved another set point with a kill to make it 28-28. Eventually, St. Olaf won four of the final five points to grab the opener, 32-30, the Oles' longest set of the season.

Augsburg held St. Olaf off to take the second set by a 25-22 margin to tie the match at a set apiece before the Oles hit .357 with 13 kills and juts three errors to roll to a 25-15 set win in the third. St. Olaf fended off three set points late in the fourth to get within a point at 24-23, but Marley Mitchell sent the match to a fifth with a kill on the final point for the visitors.

In the decider, the Oles used a 6-1 run to break a 4-4 tie and open up a 10-5 advantage and held on from there. Krause delivered three of her 13 kills in the final set, while the St. Olaf defense held Augsburg to a .048 clip in the fifth.

No. 4 UW-Eau Claire 3, St. Olaf 1 | Box Score

After UW-Eau Claire took the first two sets, St. Olaf overcame a 24-22 deficit late in the third to stay alive, but the Blugolds proceeded to snap the Oles' 18-match winning streak – the third-longest run in program history – by finishing off the win in four.

Krause, Kreft, and Beckstrand were all in double figures in kills again for St. Olaf, with Krause leading the way with 14. Kreft added 11 and Beckstrand had 10, while Christophersen tallied 23 assists, nine digs, two kills, and one ace. Ryan compiled 25 digs and seven assists in the loss.

The Blugolds cruised to a 25-12 win in the opening set before taking the second set, 25-20, to open up a two-sets-to-none lead. The visitors were within one point of a sweep with a 24-22 lead in the third before the Oles won the final four points to grab the set. Beckstrand broke a 24-24 tie with a kill before Kreft delivered an ace on set point for St. Olaf.

UW-Eau Claire hit .400 with 18 kills and just two errors in the fourth to bounce back from dropping the third. St. Olaf held an 8-7 lead before the visitors rattled off five points in a row to take the lead for good.