ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team split its two matches on the final day of the KTIS Classic, falling in five sets (25-12, 18-25, 23-25, 25-11, 15-7) to the University of Northwestern before defeating No. 17-ranked Millikin University in four sets (18-25, 25-12, 25-15, 25-18) on Saturday at Ericksen Center.

St. Olaf (3-4) held a two-sets-to-one lead in its first match of the day before Northwestern (4-2) before the Eagles, who received votes in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll, claimed a come-from-behind win in five sets. The Oles rebounded by winning the final three sets against nationally-ranked Millikin (1-5) for St. Olaf's first victory over a top-25 opponent since a five-set win over No. 20-ranked UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 4, 2024.

With 64 digs over the two matches, senior Morgan Ryan moved past Betsy Anderson '95 and into eighth place in program history with 1,484 digs for her career. After the tournament, Ryan was named to the six-member All-Tournament Team after piling up 89 digs (6.36 per set), 13 assists, and five aces on the weekend.

St. Olaf will travel to Dubuque, Iowa for the Loras Invitational next weekend, starting with matches against UW-River Falls (5 p.m.) and the University of Dubuque (7 p.m.) on Friday, Sept. 12 at the Stoltz Sports Center.

Northwestern 3, St. Olaf 2 | Box Score

After dropping the first set by a 25-12 margin, St. Olaf won the next two to take the lead, but Northwestern raced to a 25-11 win in the fourth set and took the decider, 15-7, to complete the comeback victory. The Eagles hit a combined .368 over the final two sets after behind held to a .081 clip over the second and third sets.

Sophomore Mehsa Krause and junior Lilah Van Scoyoc were both in double figures in kills for the Oles, with Krause leading the team with 15 and Van Scoyoc adding 12. Senior Paige Christophersen compiled her fifth double-double of the season with 21 assists and 18 digs, while Ryan anchored the back line with 35 digs, six assists, and three aces.

Northwestern eased to a 25-12 victory in the first set by hitting .324 and holding St. Olaf to a -.050 clip, but Ryan had nine digs in the second set to help the Oles limit the Eagles to a .132 clip to even the match at a set apiece. After trailing 14-12, St. Olaf won nine consecutive points to take a 21-14 lead on its way to the 25-18 set win.

Krause and junior Evelyn Kreft tallied four kills apiece and Ryan made nine more digs in the third set, as St. Olaf overcame an early 6-1 deficit to grab the set. Kreft delivered kills to bookend a 5-0 run that gave St. Olaf a 19-17 lead before Ryan capped the set with an ace on set point after a Krause kill broke a 23-23 tie.

Northwestern hit .350 as a team in the fourth set to send the match to a fifth and improved their attack percentage even more in the fifth to .412. St. Olaf was down just one at 5-4 in the fifth set before the Eagles won took eight of the next nine points to take control.

St. Olaf 3, No. 17 Millikin 1 | Box Score

After hitting -.163 in the first set, St. Olaf hit .276 over the final three sets and limited Millikin to sub-zero percentages in the second and third sets to finish the weekend with a win. The match was just the second all-time meeting between the two programs and the first since 2000.

Krause again led the Oles with 13 kills for her third consecutive match in double figures on the weekend. Kreft and Van Scoyoc added nine kills apiece, while senior Dori Hobbie had eight. Christophersen handed out a team-high 24 assists, while Ryan picked up 29 digs and a pair of aces. Junior Michaela Dooley contributed 12 digs and a team-high three aces.

St. Olaf was plagued by errors in the opening set, as 12 attack errors helped Millikin take the set by a 25-18 margin. The Oles responded by winning the first eight points of the second set on their way to a 25-12 set win, as Ryan tallied 11 digs in the set.

In the third, St. Olaf used a 4-0 run that included three kills from Krause to open up a 16-11 cushion and added a 6-1 run shortly thereafter to balloon its lead to 22-14. Krause led all attackers with five kills on 10 swings in the set, while Christophersen picked up an assist on 10 of the Oles' 14 kills.

After trailing 9-7 early in the fourth, St. Olaf won seven points in a row to take the lead for good, with Van Scoyoc registering two kills and an ace in the decisive run. Millikin fought back from an 18-10 deficit to get within three at 19-16 but could not get any closer, as the Oles closed the match out on a 6-2 run.