MOORHEAD, Minn. – The No. 25 Gustavus volleyball team made the trip north to Concordia Wednesday night, facing the Cobbers for its fourth consecutive MIAC match. And, for the fourth match in a row, the Gusties (13-9, 6-0 MIAC) walked away with a 3-0 sweep, highlighted by the play of
Lauren Klaith (5th, Rockford).
Klaith helped the Gustie offense smother Concordia (2-18, 2-4 MIAC), collecting 14 kills, four digs, two block assists, and a service ace. Her third kill of the match forced a Cobber timeout in the first set, and also marked a major milestone for the fifth-year, as it was the 1,000th kill of her career. Klaith becomes the 17th Gustie in program history to reach the mark, largely achieved in her last three seasons.
The Cobbers held pace with the Gusties for the first few serves of set one, never trailing by more than four. The Gusties began to pull away with
Maren Sundberg (Jr., Eagan) on the serve, getting three consecutive kills for a 15-10 lead. From there, Gustavus compiled a 10-4 run with six kills from five different players, as well as a
Macie Malchow (Fy., Washington, S.D.) ace and a number of Cobber errors. The Gusties had only three attacking errors and one service error in the first set, rolling to a 25-14 win to set the tone.
Gustavus picked up right where it left off in the second, compiling a number of impressive offensive runs off the nearly perfect play of
Leah Berg (Jr., Kenyon). A
Sydney Timm (Jr., Lakeville) kill off the first serve gave the visitors the advantage, which they never relinquished, leading Concordia by as many as 14, including the 25-11 set two final. Concordia cut the lead to single digits at 15-10, but six consecutive points with Klaith on the serve helped the Gusties nearly double the score of the home team. Berg ended the set with back-to-back kills, finishing the second with six kills on nine attempts for an impressive .667 attack.
The Cobbers gave the Gusties their very best in the third and final set, leading for more than the first half and forcing six tie scores. With Concordia up 6-3, the Gusties tied the score for the first time off a trio of kills with
Kasie Tweet (5th, Adrian) serving, as Malchow, Klaith, and Timm helped the team regain its bearings. Each team exchanged points until a kill from Klaith put the ball in the hands of Sundberg on the line, who delivered three consecutive points to give the No. 25 Gusties the lead for good. The Cobbers tied the score once more before the end of the match, but could never make up the ground, as a kill out of the hands of
Sophia Deyak (So., Iowa City, Iowa) ended the set 25-20 in favor of the Gusties.
The Gustie attack was extremely efficient, hitting .363 as a team, including a mark of .410 in the second set (18 kills, two errors, 39 attempts). The Cobber offense struggled to match the intensity, hitting just .125, including a second set mark of 0.057.
Klaith led the squad with 14 of the team's 54 kills on a .303 attacking percentage, while Tweet, Berg, Malchow, and Timm all hit above .400. Berg collected 11 kills on the night, followed by Deyak with 10. Tweet directed the offense with 40 assists, and chipped in nine digs. MIAC Athlete of the Week Sundberg led the team and the match with a total of 22 digs.
The Gusties close out the non-conference portion of their schedule Saturday, hosting UW-River Falls (9-14, 1-2 WIAC) and Luther (5-16, 1-3 A-R-C) for a triangular at Gus Young Court.
