ST. PAUL, Minn. – Following five weekends of travel and competition against some of the best in Division III, the Gustavus volleyball team enjoyed a week off before facing Macalester Saturday night in St. Paul. And the rest was just what the Gusties and Head Coach
Rachelle Sherden ordered, as the team got back into the win column with a 3-0 sweep of the Scots, the team's sixth of its kind this season.
The No. 25 Gusties won sets one and two 25-18 before dealing Macalester (9-9, 1-2 MIAC) a 3-0 setback with a 25-20 win in the final set. The win moves Gustavus to 10-9 overall and 3-0 in the conference.
The home team got off to the hot start on Saturday, keeping pace with the Gusties point-for-point through the start of the first set. Macalester collected the set's first two points on back-to-back kills before
Brynn Smith (Sr., Brooklyn Park) got the Gusties on the board. The Scots kept the Gusties one point behind until 5-5, as a pair of Macalester errors gave Gustavus the lead for good. The Gusties went on a 10-3 run, capitalizing on a pair of kills from
Lauren Klaith (5th, Rockford), a
Sydney Timm (Jr., Lakeville) service ace, and a number of Scot errors. From there, the lead was out of reach for Macalester, as the Gusties were able to hold the home team to just three kills in the final 16 points of set one, winning 25-18 on yet another kill from Klaith, her fourth of the set.
Set two was more of the same, as the Gusties collected their second consecutive 25-18 victory. First-year
Macie Malchow (Sioux Falls, S.D.) got the team going early, delivering five straight points on the serve to start the set, including a pair of service aces. The Gusties never took their foot off the gas, keeping Macalester at arm's length with kills from five different Gusties. Malchow ended the set just as she had started it, once again delivering four points in a row on the serve to give the Gusties a 2-0 lead in the match.
Macalester gave its very best to the Gusties in set three, jumping out to an early 3-0 lead on a kill and two Gustie errors. The Scots led the Gusties by as many as four before either team reached double digits. A well-timed block from Timm and
Sophia Deyak (So., Iowa City, Iowa) got the visitors back on track, as the Gusties took the lead with a quick 6-2 run, highlighted by a pair of kills out of the hands of
Leah Berg (Jr., Kenyon), to bring the score to 12-10 in favor of the Black & Gold. MAC cut the lead to just two points a number of time in the set's final serves, but it was too little, too late, as the Gusties powered through the Scots, ending the match on a kill from Berg to win set three 25-20.
The Gusties dominated the scoresheet, totaling 26 kills on a .197 attacking percentage, compared to 28 kills and a .053 attack for the Scots. Gustavus added eight service aces and eight blocks in the victory, compared to four and five for Macalester.
Individually, Klaith led both teams with 13 kills on 32 attempts for a .313 clip. The fifth-year had only three errors in the match, and chipped in a pair of block assists and a service ace. Both Timm and Deyak added seven kills to the total, while Berg collected six.
Macie Malchow was a force all over the court, directing the Gustie offense with 27 assists, three aces, and seven digs, as well as a pair of kills. Smith led the back line with 15 digs, followed by
Maren Sundberg (Jr., Eagan) with 12.
The Gusties will play their next two at home, hosting St. Scholastica (8-9, 1-2 MIAC) Friday and Hamline (7-10, 0-2 MIAC) Saturday for Homecoming and Alumni Day at Gus Young Court. Gustavus is more than halfway done with its 2024 season, with 10 matches remaining in the regular season, including two final non-conference competitions on Oct. 19.
