CLAREMONT, Calif. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team began its season with a five-set loss to the seventh-ranked University of La Verne and a sweep of California Lutheran University on day one of the Pacific Coast Classic on Friday at Voelkel Gymnasium on the campus of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges.

To start the day, St. Olaf (1-1) twice recovered from a set down to even the match against seventh-ranked La Verne before the Leopards came back from 8-6 down to win the decider and claim a 25-19, 13-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-10 victory. The Oles responded by sweeping Cal Lutheran (0-1) by holding the Regals to a .113 attack percentage over the three sets.

The meetings were the first for St. Olaf against both programs since 2019 when the Oles also ventured to the Pacific Coast Classic to begin their season. La Verne was ranked No. 7 this week in the preseason American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25.

St. Olaf will wrap up its showing at the Pacific Coast Classic against No. 15-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (12 p.m. CDT) and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (5:30 p.m. CDT) on Saturday, Aug. 30 at Roberts Pavillion.

No. 7 La Verne 3, St. Olaf 2 | Box Score

After dropping the first and third sets, St. Olaf answered by winning the second and fourth to send the match the distance and led by as many as three in the fifth before La Verne won seven of the final eight points. The Oles had 20 more kills in the match (65) than the Leopards (45), but La Verne used a 10-1 advantage in aces and a 17-9 edge in blocks to come away with the win.

Sophomore Mehsa Krause led four Oles in double figures in kills with a match-high 16, which was one shy of her career-high total. Junior Lilah Van Scoyoc registered a double-double of 15 kills and 12 digs, junior Maren Miller had 13 kills while hitting .600, and sophomore Carlie Beckstrand added 10 kills.

Senior Morgan Ryan compiled a match-high 24 digs to go with five assists, while senior Paige Christophersen recorded a double-double with 28 assists and 11 digs. St. Olaf hit .188 in the match, compared to .121 for La Verne.

The Leopards turned a 15-13 edge into a 20-13 cushion in the first set with a 5-0 run and held off St. Olaf after the Oles closed the gap to 22-19 late in the set. Krause had six of St. Olaf's 18 kills in the second set, as the Oles rolled to a 25-13 set win by limiting La Verne to three kills and a -.083 attack percentage in the set. The Leopards held an 11-10 lead in the set before the Oles won 15 of the final 17 points.

After La Verne went back on top by winning the third set, St. Olaf broke a 22-22 tie by winning the last three points of the fourth set to stay alive. Beckstrand broke the tie with a kill before a kill by Krause and an attack error by the Leopards pushed the match to a fifth set.

In the decider, the Oles held early leads of 4-1, 6-3, and 8-6 before the Leopards rallied for the win by taking seven of the final eight points. La Verne had 11 kills on 19 swings to hit .474 to take the fifth despite St. Olaf hitting at a .308 clip.

St. Olaf 3, Cal Lutheran 0 | Box Score

After making 24 digs earlier in the day, Ryan did so again against Cal Lutheran to help St. Olaf limit the Regals to a .113 attack percentage in a 25-23, 25-18, 25-21 victory. The first set featured 14 ties and seven lead changes before the next two sets included just four ties and two lead changes combined.

Van Scoyoc was the lone Ole with more than five kills in the match, as the junior racked up 11 to pace the offense. Christophersen neared her second double-double of the day with 17 assists, eight digs, and three aces, as St. Olaf piled up nine aces over the three sets.

Junior Michaela Dooley had seven of her 12 digs in the first set, as St. Olaf recovered from an early 7-2 deficit to grab the opener. In the back-and-forth set, the Oles faced a 20-19 deficit before breaking a 23-23 tie with back-to-back kills by Krause and Van Scoyoc to claim a 25-23 set win.

Eight Oles recorded at least one kill and Ryan made 12 digs in the second set, as St. Olaf held Cal Lutheran to a .048 attack percentage to go up two sets to none. The Oles surged out to leads of 8-4, 11-5, and 14-6 and used a 7-0 run to open up a 21-11 lead after the Regals got within three.

In the third, St. Olaf jumped out to an 11-4 lead and held off Cal Lutheran after the Regals cut their deficit to two on five occasions. Ryan tallied nine more digs in the third, while Van Scoyoc led the offense with four kills.