NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball suffered a four-set loss (25-18, 18-25, 25-23, 25-22) to the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play on Friday evening at Skoglund Center.
After the teams split the first two sets, Saint Ben's (11-9, 5-2 MIAC) overcame a five-point deficit in set three and went on to take the final two sets to deal St. Olaf (18-6, 5-2 MIAC) its second conference loss of the season. The result gave the Bennies the head-to-head edge over the Oles if the teams end up tied in the playoff race.
Seniors
Evelyn Kreft and
Lilah Van Scoyoc combined for 31 of St. Olaf's 48 kills in the loss. Kreft led the team with 16 kills, while Van Scoyoc had 15 with a .325 attack percentage. Junior
Sophie Saxton reached the 1,000-assist mark for her career with a 28-assist, 15-dig double-double for the Oles, who hit just .132 in the match.
St. Olaf held Saint Ben's to a .148 clip behind 25 digs from junior
Mehsa Krause and 19 from senior
Michaela Dooley. Senior
Maren Miller was in on all eight of the Oles' blocks on the night. Saint Ben's held a 10-2 advantage in aces, although the visitors committed 15 service errors to five for the Oles.
Saint Ben's took the opening set by hitting .286 with 14 kills and just two errors. After trailing 11-6, St. Olaf fought back to tie the set at 12-12 and, later, the two teams were tied for the ninth time in the set at 17-17. The Bennies broke the tie with a 7-0 run that included three aces by Izzy Torve and finished off the set two points later.
St. Olaf raced out to an 8-1 lead in the second as the Bennies committed four early attack errors. Saint Ben's used a 5-0 run to get within three at 18-15, but the Oles closed the set on a 6-1 run to win a set where the Bennies had just eight kills and eight attack errors.
Midway through the third, St. Olaf used a 5-1 run to build a 15-10 lead, but Saint Ben's won 10 of the next 15 points to even the set at 20-20. A kill by Kreft gave the Oles a 22-21 lead a few points later, but the Bennies won four of the final five points to grab a two-sets-to-one lead.
Kali Jones powered the visitors' offense in the fourth set, recording seven kills to help Saint Ben's close it out. The Bennies opened up a 20-17 lead late on with a 5-1 run and were up 24-20 before the Oles saved back-to-back match points on a block and a kill, but Kate Stadum delivered her 10th kill of the match to end it for Saint Ben's.
St. Olaf will finish its week with a road match against St. Catherine University at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24.
