NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team finished off a 3-0 showing at the Carleton/St. Olaf Invitational by sweeping Wartburg College and No. 1-ranked UW-Whitewater on Saturday at Skoglund Center.

After beginning the day with a 25-14, 25-17, 25-22 victory over Wartburg (7-5), St. Olaf (8-6) knocked off top-ranked UW-Whitewater (11-2) with a 25-21, 25-13, 25-20 win. The Oles held both opponents to sub-zero attack percentages to complete the 3-0 weekend. The in over the Warhawks is believed to be the first victory over a No. 1-ranked team in program history.

St. Olaf will open Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play by hosting crosstown-rival Carleton College in the Battle for the Bell on Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m.

St. Olaf 3, Wartburg 0 | Box Score

St. Olaf held Wartburg to attack percentages of less than 0.050 in all three sets and an overall clip of -0.019 for the match to sweep the Knights. The Oles also held advantages of 7-2 in aces and 10-5 in blocks in the victory.

Junior Maren Miller led a balanced St. Olaf attack with nine kills while hitting .583 and was in on five total blocks. Sophomore Mehsa Krause added eight kills, while senior Holly Jelinek pitched in with seven while hitting .313. Senior Paige Christophersen recorded 15 assists, 10 digs, and one ace, while senior Morgan Ryan made a match-high 20 digs to go with four assists and two aces.

St. Olaf hit an even .400 and got four kills on four swings from Miller to race to a 25-14 win in the opening set. The Oles cooled off a bit to a .219 attack percentage in the second set but won it, 25-17, behind four kills on six swings from Krause to open up a 2-0 lead.

The third set was a tighter affair, featuring nine ties and four lead changes. Wartburg threatened to push the match to a fourth set with a 22-21 lead before St. Olaf won the final four points – two on kills by junior Evelyn Kreft – to close out the sweep.

St. Olaf 3, No. 1 UW-Whitewater 0 | Box Score

Facing one of the most potent offenses in the country, St. Olaf limited UW-Whitewater to sub-zero attack percentages in all three sets to take down the No. 1 team in the country in three. The Oles held the Warthawks, who ranked in the top 10 nationally in kills per set entering the weekend, to 23 kills and 26 attack errors for a -0.028 attack percentage for the match.

Kreft was the lone hitter on either team to reach double figures in kills with a match-high 13 for her second double-digit total of the weekend. Krause totaled eight kills, seven digs, two aces, and two block assists, while Christophersen led the team with three aces to go with 14 assists and a pair of kills. Ryan registered a match-high 23 digs.

Kreft led the Oles to a 25-21 victory in the opening set with six kills in the early stages. Already leading 10-6, St. Olaf broke the set open with a 7-0 run on Ryan's serve that included three kills by Kreft. UW-Whitewater cut its deficit to four at 18-14 and was down just three before an attack error ended the set.

Twelve attack errors plagued the Warhawks in set two, as St. Olaf won the set 25-13 despite having just eight kills and seven errors in the set. Christophersen and Krause tallied two aces apiece in the set.

In a third set that included nine ties and five lead changes, nine Oles had at least one kill to help close out the victory. St. Olaf built a 17-10 lead past the midway point of the set with a 7-0 run, but UW-Whitewater rallied to tie the set at 19-19 with a 9-2 spurt of its own. Out of a timeout, the Oles finished the match on a 6-1 run that included two kills apiece from senior Dori Hobbie and Kreft.