NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The No. 25-ranked St. Olaf College volleyball team dropped its home opener to the University of Minnesota Morris by a 25-20, 18-25, 25-20, 9-25, 15-10 margin in Friday evening at Skoglund Center.
After falling in a two-sets-to-one hole, St. Olaf (9-4) cruised to a 25-9 set win in the fourth set, but Minnesota Morris (8-4) recovered to win the decider in the third consecutive five-setter in the series between the two programs. The Oles were ranked No. 25 nationally this week by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
Senior
Evelyn Kreft had a match-high 16 kills for St. Olaf, which got 12 kills from senior
Maren Miller and 10 from senior
Lilah Van Scoyoc. Miller was also part of six total blocks. Junior
Sophie Saxton was one dig shy of a double-double with 27 assists, nine digs, and two kills, while senior
Michaela Dooley tallied a career-high 32 digs, three aces, and five assists.
Minnesota Morris won a first set that included nine ties by hitting .333 and getting multiple kills from five different hitters. St. Olaf fought back in the second by holding the Cougars to a .050 attack percentage and getting seven kills from Van Scoyoc to even the match at a set apiece.
The Oles hit just .026 in the third set but hit at a .464 clip and held the Cougars to a -.086 clip in the fourth to send the match the distance. Minnesota Morris held a 5-4 lead in the fourth before St. Olaf won 15 consecutive points, 14 of which came on Dooley's serve.
St. Olaf surged out to a 5-1 lead in the fifth behind back-to-back kills by Kreft and an ace by Dooley, but the visitors won the next five points to take a 6-5 lead. The Oles went back on top at 7-6 on kills by junior
Carlie Beckstrand and Kreft, but the Cougars won nine of the final 12 points to pick up their first win over a top-25 team since 2018.
St. Olaf will look to bounce back in a 9 a.m. match against UW-Stout Polytechnic on Saturday, Sept. 26 on day two of the St. Olaf/Carleton Invitational.
