NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The No. 25-ranked St. Olaf College volleyball team rebounded from a five-set loss the night before with a four-set (25-22, 18-25, 25-22, 25-14) victory over UW-Stout Polytechnic on the final day of the St. Olaf/Carleton Invitational on Saturday morning at Skoglund Center.
After St. Olaf (10-4) and UW-Stout (10-5) split the first two sets, the Oles overcame an 8-0 deficit in the third and went on to finish off the Blue Devils in the fourth to claim their fifth consecutive victory in the series between the two teams. St. Olaf was ranked No. 25 this week by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
Senior
Lilah Van Scoyoc tallied a match- and season-high 16 kills while hitting .325 to pace St. Olaf offensively. Junior
Mehsa Krause recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 12 kills, a career-high 22 digs, and three aces. Junior
Sophie Saxton also posted a double-double with 29 assists, 12 digs, and one ace, while senior
Michaela Dooley registered 25 digs, five assists, and three aces.
UW-Stout held an 11-6 lead near the midway point of the first set before St. Olaf won nine of the next 11 points to build a 15-13 lead. The Oles were up by five, 23-18, late in the set before the Blue Devils won four points in a row to get within one, but the Oles got kills from sophomore
Zahara Johnson and senior
Evelyn Kreft to close out the set.
The visitors jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start the second set and broke the set open with an 8-0 run that broke an 11-11 tie. UW-Stout went on an 8-0 run to start the third and were up 16-11 before the Oles won 14 of the final 20 points of the set to take a two-sets-to-one lead. Van Scoyoc had six kills and Dooley made 12 digs in the third set alone.
St. Olaf held UW-Stout to a -.057 attack percentage and got five more kills from Van Scoyoc in the fourth. Already with an 11-9 lead, the Oles used an 8-2 run to extend their advantage to 19-11, with Krause delivering three consecutive aces in the run.
St. Olaf will return to MIAC play by hosting Bethel University at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 30 at Skoglund Center.
