ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team was swept by the No. 24-ranked University of Northwestern by scores of 25-10, 25-12, 25-17 in non-conference play on Wednesday evening at the Ericksen Center.
Northwestern (17-4) hit .364 and held St. Olaf (19-7) to a .017 clip to get a measure of revenge after the Oles swept the Eagles in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year. St. Olaf, which received votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)-Taraflex national poll this week, had won both of its prior matches against nationally-ranked teams this season and had won three of the last four head-to-head meetings with Northwestern. The loss was the Oles' first in true road matches this season after St. Olaf had won its first eight.
In a match where neither team had an ace, Northwestern, which entered the night ranked fourth in NCAA Division III in blocks per set (2.59), out-blocked St. Olaf by a 10-1 margin while holding advantages of 43-24 in kills and 59-41 in digs in the win. The Eagles hit at least .295 in all three sets and held the Oles under .100 in each set.
Senior
Maren Miller led the Oles with seven kills and a .286 hitting percentage, while junior
Mehsa Krause and senior
Michaela Dooley tied for the team lead with 12 digs apiece. Krause also recorded six kills, while senior
Lilah Van Scoyoc had five.
Ana Egge, who began the night ranked fifth in NCAA Division III with an average of 4.55 kills per set this season, racked up 19 with just one error to hit .529 for Northwestern. The Eagles had just seven attack errors as a team on 99 swings.
Northwestern took control of the opening set quickly by jumping out to a 7-2 lead, as St. Olaf was plagued by 11 attack errors in the set. The Oles held a 9-8 lead early in the second set before the Eagles won the next 16 points to bring up a string of set points. St. Olaf fought off three set points before Northwestern ended the set.
The Oles were up 11-9 near the midway point of the third before the Eagles won six of the next seven points to take the lead. St. Olaf hung around by taking four of the next five points to level the set at 16-16, but Northwestern responded with an 8-0 run as part of a 9-1 stretch to end the match.
St. Olaf will play three of its final four regular-season matches at home, beginning with a 7 p.m. matchup with Saint Mary's University on Friday, Oct. 30 on Parent Night at Skoglund Center.
