LINCOLN, Neb. – The No. 24-ranked St. Olaf College volleyball team finished off a 3-0 showing at the P-Wolf Invite with a sweep of Whitworth University and a four-set victory over host Nebraska Wesleyan University on Saturday at Snyder Arena.
After sweeping Gordon College on Friday, St. Olaf (6-1) downed Whitworth (6-1) and Nebraska Wesleyan (3-4) at the loss of just one set to complete an unbeaten weekend in Nebraska. The Oles were ranked No. 24 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll.
Next weekend, St. Olaf will head to Dubuque, Iowa for the Mabel Lee Invite at Coe College. The Oles will begin the tournament against the University of Dubuque (4 p.m.) and Coe (6:30 p.m.) on Friday, Sept. 18.
No. 24 St. Olaf 3, Whitworth 0 | Box Score
In a match where St. Olaf hit just .192 as a team, the Oles tallied nine aces and nine blocks to sweep Whitworth by scores of 25-23, 25-19, 25-22 to improve to 4-0 all-time against the Pirates. St. Olaf held Whitworth to a .144 attack percentage in the match, as the Pirates did not hit about .170 in any of the three sets.
Senior
Michaela Dooley anchored the Oles' defense with a then career-high 26 digs and added a match-high three aces. Senior
Maren Miller was in on five total blocks and tallied nine kills while hitting .467 in the win. Junior
Mehsa Krause matched Miller with nine kills to go with 15 digs, two aces, and two blocks. Junior
Sophie Saxton had a team-high 21 assists.
Whitworth held a 17-13 lead past the midway point of the opening set before St. Olaf won eight of the next nine points to take a 21-18 advantage. The Pirates battled back to tie the set at 22-22, but Krause and senior
Lilah Van Scoyoc delivered back-to-back kills to help the Oles close out the set. Krause and junior
Carlie Beckstrand had five kills apiece in the opening set, as St. Olaf hit .283 as a team.
The Oles broke open the second set with an 8-0 run that created a 21-11 lead, with Dooley hitting two of St. Olaf's six aces in the set during the run. Whitworth hung around to stay within five at 22-17 before Miller had a pair of late kills to cap her six-kill set and help the Oles take a two-set lead.
St. Olaf led 11-5 early in the third set, but the Pirates rallied to tie the set at 19-19. The fourth service error by Whitworth late in the set gave the Oles a 22-21 lead and started a 4-1 close to the match for St. Olaf. The Pirates had just six service errors in the match, but four came on the final seven points the Oles won.
No. 24 St. Olaf 3, Nebraska Wesleyan 1 | Box Score
After St. Olaf won the first two sets, Nebraska Wesleyan took the third in extra points to stay alive, but the Oles regrouped to finish off a 25-19, 25-21, 24-26, 25-19 win. St. Olaf matched its season high with 12 total blocks in the victory, which ties the program's highest block total since having 13 in a four-set win over No. 23-ranked Otterbein University on Sept. 1, 2023.
Senior
Evelyn Kreft led the way offensively for St. Olaf with 14 kills and just three errors to hit .344, while Krause added a double-double of 11 kills and 15 digs. Miller chipped in with nine kills as well. Dooley set a new career high in digs for the second time on the day with 27 to go with a pair of aces. Sophomore
Zahara Johnson was part of six of the Oles' 12 blocks.
In the opening set, St. Olaf put together a decisive 6-0 run to turn a 14-13 deficit into a 19-14 advantage. Nebraska Wesleyan saved three set points late before Johnson ended the set with a kill. The Oles hit .303 and got six digs from Dooley in a set that included eight ties and four lead changes.
St. Olaf held the tournament hosts to a .042 attack percentage and got five kills from Kreft in the second set to take a 2-0 lead. The Oles held a 16-15 lead before going on a 6-2 run to take control. Nebraska Wesleyan outlasted St. Olaf in the third, 26-24, to force the match to a fourth set by winning a set that included 13 ties and four lead changes.
St. Olaf won six points in a row to go up 6-1 in the fourth and never trailed in the set. The Prairie Wolves got within one point four times, but the Oles used a 6-1 run midway through the set to build a 15-9 lead and led by at least three the rest of the way. St. Olaf committed just one attack error in the fourth, compared to 10 for Nebraska Wesleyan, to win the set despite having just nine kills.
