SAINT PETER, Minn. – The No. 25 Gustavus volleyball team concluded the non-conference portion of its schedule Saturday, hosting UW-River Falls (9-16, 1-3 WIAC) and Luther (5-20, 1-4 A-R-C) for a triangular at Gus Young Court. The Gusties dominated nearly every set, sweeping both opponents and winning by more than 10 in four of their six sets. An efficient and consistent attack led Gustavus (15-9, 6-0 MIAC) to its 14th and 15th wins of the season, extending its home winning streak to 12 matches, a stat that dates back to the 2023 season.
Gustavus 3, UW-River Falls 0
Facing their sixth WIAC opponent of the season, the Gusties were up to the challenge against the River Falls to start the afternoon, as
Leah Berg (Jr., Kenyon) set the tone early with a a kill to start set one and give the Gusties the early advantage, which they never relinquished throughout the set. Berg delivered four kills and committed only one error in the first set, helping Gustavus to a 25-21 win. The Gusties used an 8-2 run midway through the set to pull away from the Falcons, as
Kasie Tweet (5th, Adrian) delivered five consecutive points on the serve, including a service ace and kills from fellow fifth-year
Lauren Klaith (Rockford) and first-year
Macie Malchow (Sioux Falls, S.D.). A surge of Falcon points brought them within three of the Gustie lead, but a kill from Berg and a UWRF attack error ended the set in favor of the home team.
Despite a pair of tie scores and an early Falcon advantage, set two was the first of many dominating Gustie victories on Saturday, as the team stifled the River Falls attack to take a 2-0 lead in the match. The Falcons got the first point and exchanged a few with the Gusties in the following serves, but it wasn't enough to deter the likes of Klaith and
Sophia Deyak (So., Iowa City), who each tallied three kills with only one error between them to pace the Gustavus offense.
Maren Sundberg (Jr., Eagan) delivered a pair of service aces to help build the lead to double digits, followed by a number of Falcon errors, including four in the final five Gustie points, to end set two 25-13 in favor of the Gusties.
Gustavus never trailed in the final set, posting another 25-21 score to sweep the Falcons.
Sydney Timm (Jr., Lakeville) and Berg each hit above .400 in set three to drive home the victory, while the Gusties held River Falls to a .163 clip, getting four more service aces, including two out of the hands of Klaith. The fifth-year proved to be too much for the Falcons to handle, delivering back-to-back kills to end the set and the match.
Klaith totaled 12 kills with an impressive .400 efficiency, hitting without any attacking errors on 30 attempts. She added two service aces and four digs to her stat line. Deyak and Timm chipped in nine kills apiece, while Tweet directed the offense with 32 assists. Tweet and Sundberg each added a trio of aces to bring the team total to eight, with Sundberg collecting 19 digs to lead the Gustie defense. Tweet completed the double-double with 11 digs of her own, while Timm and Malchow each had a solo block.
Gustavus 3, Luther 0
The second match of the day was a showcase of power and consistency, as the Gusties hit .417 as a team, including marks of .441 and .458 in sets two and three against the Norse. Luther was held to a negative attacking percentage in two of its sets, collecting only 14 kills throughout the match.
A service error gave Luther its only lead of set one, 1-0, but Deyak quickly got the Gusties back on track for three points, two of which were kills from the sophomore. Luther tied the score at 6-6, but the Gusties were unfazed, rattling off a run of six with
Brynn Smith (Sr., Brooklyn Park) on the serve, three of which were kills, while Smith delivered an ace for a 19-10 lead over Luther. A kill from Berg ended set one quickly, 25-14, in favor of the Gusties.
And, as if the 11 point differential wasn't impressive enough, the Gusties outdid themselves, holding the Norse to single digits in set two. Luther never compiled more than one point in a row, while the Gusties managed a trio of runs of four points or more. The lead began to separate with Klaith on the serve, as Timm delivered a pair of kills, followed by another from Berg and an ace from Klaith for a 13-4 advantage for the home team. Malchow led the Gusties to their next run, as Luther tallied three attack errors in a row, one of which was forced by a solo block from Deyak. And, just as she had in the set before, Smith put the bow on top of set three, serving six straight points to end the set at 25-7, two of which were aces from the senior.
Luther led twice early and tied the score five times through the opening serves of what would be the final set of the day, capitalizing on a rare Gustie attack error to bring the score 7-7. Berg put the serve back in the hands of Malchow, who strung together an impressive series, collecting a pair of aces as the Gusties rattled off seven straight points to bring their lead to 16-7 and out of reach of the Norse for the rest of the set. The first-year collected three kills in the set's final points, as a Norse attack error ended set three 25-11 for the second Gustie sweep of the day.
Four Gusties hit above .400 against Luther, while two – Berg and Tweet – were above .500. Deyak, Klaith, and Berg all totaled 11 kills in match two, while Timm and Malchow had seven each. Tweet added 41 assists in the impressive team performance, while Sundberg posted 18 digs on the back line. Smith had seven digs of her own, as well as three service aces.
The Gusties have five MIAC contests remaining in their regular season schedule, hosting St. Olaf (15-6, 3-3 MIAC) next Friday before traveling to Saint Benedict (7-10, 3-2 MIAC) on Saturday.
