NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team hit a season-best .364 on its way to sweeping crosstown-rival Carleton College by scores of 25-12, 25-12, 25-13 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opener for both teams on Wednesday night.

Coming off a victory over then No. 1-ranked UW-Whitewater, St. Olaf (9-6, 1-0 MIAC) won the first nine points of the opening set and was in control from there, as the only lead in the match for Carleton (2-12, 0-1 MIAC) was a 1-0 lead in the third set. The victory meant the Oles, who received votes in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll, maintained possession of "The Bell", the traveling cowbell trophy the two teams play for each year.

Junior Lilah Van Scoyoc recorded a match-high 13 kills and hit .545 for St. Olaf, which also got 10 kills and a .500 attack percentage from junior Maren Miller. Junior Evelyn Kreft and sophomore Mehsa Krause added seven kills apiece.

Senior Paige Christophersen tallied 21 assists to help the Oles to the .364 hitting percentage and added eight digs and five aces, while senior Morgan Ryan registered a match-high 17 digs. Junior Michaela Dooley contributed nine digs defensively as well, as St. Olaf held Carleton to an attack percentage of .089 in the match.

The Oles rattled off the first nine points of the match – eight on Christophersen's serve – before a service error put an end to the run, which included three kills by Van Scoyoc. St. Olaf hit .419 with 15 kills and just two errors in the set and tallied five aces from four different sources.

Two of the match's three ties came early in the first six points of the second set before St. Olaf pulled away. Leading 9-6, the Oles went on a 5-1 run to open up a 14-7 lead on their way to another 25-12 set win. Van Scoyoc and Kreft combined for nine kills on 13 errorless swings in the middle set.

After the Knights won the opening point of the third set for their lone lead of the night, St. Olaf again went on a run on Christophersen's serve while winning the next seven points. Christophersen had back-to-back aces before Miller delivered kills on the final three points of the run. Another 7-0 run ballooned the Oles' lead to 14-2, but Carleton clawed to within six at 17-11 before St. Olaf won eight of the final 10 points.

St. Olaf will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 26 with a 7 p.m. conference match at Bethel University.