CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The No. 21-ranked St. Olaf College volleyball team split a pair of three-set matches on Saturday at the Mabel Lee Invite, falling to Hope College before topping St. Norbert College at Kohawk Arena.
After dropping its opening match of the day to Hope (6-3) by a 25-21, 25-21, 26-24 margin, St. Olaf (8-3) rebounded with a sweep of St. Norbert by scores of 26-24, 25-15, 25-20 to finish 2-2 on the weekend. The Oles were ranked No. 21 this week by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), while the Flying Dutch received votes in that poll.
St. Olaf will begin Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play with a 7 p.m. match at Carleton College on Wednesday, Sept. 23.
Hope 3, No. 21 St. Olaf 0 | Box Score
Hope used late surges in the second and third sets to sweep St. Olaf in the Oles' first match of the day, winning all three sets by four or fewer points. The Flying Dutch hit .258 in the win and limited the Oles to a .198 clip.
Senior
Lilah Van Scoyoc led St. Olaf with nine kills while committing just one error on 22 swings to hit .364. Senior
Evelyn Kreft had eight kills, while classmate
Maren Miller had six on just 14 swings. Senior
Michaela Dooley recorded 14 digs and four assists.
Hope jumped out to a 5-1 lead to start the match and never relinquished the lead in the opening set. After trailing 23-17, St. Olaf mounted a late rally by winning four of the next five points before a block gave the set to the Flying Dutch.
The Oles used an 8-1 run to open up a 14-10 lead midway through the second set and held an 18-14 lead before Hope rallied to take the set. The Flying Dutch won 11 of the final 14 points of the set and broke a 20-20 tie with a 5-1 run.
Hope surged out to a 7-1 lead in the third, but St. Olaf hung around and took a 17-14 lead after an extended 9-3 run. The Flying Dutch were up 22-20 late on before the Oles won four of the next five points to bring up a set point on a solo block by Miller, but Hope ended the match by winning the final three points. The third set included 10 ties and six lead changes.
No. 21 St. Olaf 3, St. Norbert 0 | Box Score
St. Olaf posted its second-highest hitting percentage of the season by hitting .311 on its way to sweeping St. Norbert to end the weekend with a win. Van Scoyoc again led the Oles in kills with a match-high 10 and again had just one error to hit .409.
Kreft and Miller added eight kills apiece, with Miller doing so on 18 errorless swings to hit .444. Junior
Mehsa Krause contributed across the board with seven kills, a match-high 14 digs, a match-high three aces, and three block assists. Sophomore
Kailani Schroeder had 20 assists, seven digs, one ace, and one kill.
St. Olaf needed extra points to win an opening set that featured 12 ties and five lead changes. St. Norbert was two points away from winning the set with a 23-21 lead and had a set point at 24-23, but A kill from Krause, a block by Krause and first year
Maddy Schroeder, and a kill from Van Scoyoc gave the Oles a late comeback.
Six Oles tallied multiple kills as St. Olaf hit .438 on its way to a dominant 25-15 win in the second set. The set was tight midway through before the Oles won 12 of the final 15 points to run away with the set.
In the third, St. Olaf was up 18-11 before St. Norbert strung together five consecutive points to close the gap to two. Kreft and sophomore
Anna Hedrick each provided a pair of kills late in the set to help the Oles hold off the Green Knights and complete the sweep.
