ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team extended its winning streak to seven matches with a four-set (22-25, 25-13, 25-14, 25-15) victory over Macalester College and a sweep (25-19, 28-26, 25-19) of UW-La Crosse in a tri-match on Saturday afternoon at the Leonard Center.
Coming off a five-set victory over No. 4-ranked UW-Eau Claire on Wednesday, St. Olaf (17-5, 5-1 MIAC) started slowly against Macalester (7-12, 2-4 MIAC) but recovered from dropping the opening set to take the next three sets by 10 or more points. Later, the Oles swept UW-La Crosse (9-12) in non-conference play for their sixth consecutive win over the Eagles.
St. Olaf will play three matches next week, starting with a 7 p.m. non-conference home match against UW-Superior on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
St. Olaf 3, Macalester 1 | Box Score
Senior
Evelyn Kreft powered St. Olaf to the four-set win over Macalester to start the day with a match-high and season-high-tying 17 kills. After Macalester hit .326 in the opening set, the Oles held the hosts to a .028 clip over the final three sets. The win improved St. Olaf to 7-0 in true road matches this season.
Kreft was the lone Ole in double figures in kills in the win. Senior
Lilah Van Scoyoc chipped in with eighth and senior
Maren Miller had six to go with seven block assists. Junior
Sophie Saxton tallied 21 assists, while sophomore
Kailani Schroeder had a double-double of 14 assists, 11 digs, and one ace. Senior
Michaela Dooley recorded 21 digs, five assists, two aces, and a kill, while junior
Mehsa Krause registered 16 digs, five kills, and one ace.
Macalester had kills on 19 of its 25 points and got multiple kills from six different hitters on its way to winning the opening set by a 25-22 margin. In the second, St. Olaf made 27 digs and held the Scots to eight kills and eight attack errors to level the match at a set apiece. Already leading 13-9, the Oles broke the set open with a 7-1 run as part of a 12-4 close to the set.
St. Olaf won six points in a row early in the second set to open up a 12-4 lead. Macalester closed the gap to four at 15-11, but the Oles answered with a 6-0 run to build a 10-point lead at 21-11. Kreft got the Oles to the finish line with five kills in each of the final two sets. St. Olaf trailed 9-8 early in the fourth before winning the next seen points to take control.
St. Olaf 3, UW-La Crosse 0 | Box Score
St. Olaf was more balanced offensively later in the day against UW-La Crosse, as three Oles reached double figures in kills. The Oles needed extra points to win the second set but never trailed in the first or third sets.
Miller matched her season high with 14 kills and hit .462 for St. Olaf, which got 10 kills apiece from junior
Carlie Beckstrand and Krause. Schroeder posted her second double-double of the day with 29 assists and 13 digs, while Dooley had another 21 digs in the back row.
St. Olaf surged out to a 6-1 lead to start the match and never looked back in the opening set. The Oles led by at least three points for the rest of the set, winning it by a 25-19 margin behind a six-kill set from Miller and a 12-dig set from Dooley.
In a second set that included 12 ties and seven lead changes, St. Olaf overcame a late 22-19 deficit to go up by two sets. Miller delivered kills on back-to-back set points for UW-La Crosse to tie the set at 24-24. Beckstrand proceeded to save two more set points with two kills of her own before an attack error and a kill by Krause gave the Oles the set, 28-26.
In the third, St. Olaf won seven consecutive points to break a 4-4 tie and held off the Eagles late in the set. The Oles saw an 11-point lead cut to three at 20-17, but Miller and Krause had two late kills apiece in a 4-1 finish to the set.
