COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The No. 16 nationally-ranked Gustavus volleyball team opened its season on the road Friday, facing a pair of top teams at the Pikes Peak Challenge hosted by Colorado College. The Gusties started the season on a high note, defeating No. 5 UW-Oshkosh 3-1 before completing a comeback victory over No. 11 Transylvania, 3-2. The Gusties, ranked No. 16 in the country in the AVCA's preseason national poll, certainly impressed in one of the biggest DIII volleyball matchups of the opening weekend.
Gustavus 3, UW-Oshkosh 1
Match number one of the day had a bit of extra meaning for the Gusties, as it was Oshkosh that knocked the team out of the national tournament last November. The Titans, ranked No. 5 in the nation after a trip to last year's Elite Eight, jumped out to an early lead in set one, getting four quick points over the Gusties for a 4-0 lead. Gustavus slowly started to chip the lead away with
Payton Auseth on the serve, evening the score at 7-7 before taking their first lead of the set at 8-7.
From there, it was a back-and-forth battle, with seven lead changes throughout the set. The Titans seemed to run away with it, creating a four point separation at 21-17, but two kills from each
Lauren Klaith and
Sophia Deyak and a series of Oshkosh attack errors put the Gusties on top, 23-21. Service errors from each team put the ball in the hands of
Kasie Tweet on the serve, who set
Sydney Timm for the final kill of set one, winning it for the Gusties, 27-25.
Set two was for the Gusties, who built their lead to nearly double digits, including the final nine-point differential, 25-16. Gustavus held the Titans to a 0.056 attacking percentage in the second set, forcing seven attack errors and collecting a pair of blocks to collect their second set victory over UWO.
Oshkosh flipped the script to stay alive in set three, holding Gustavus to a .136 attacking percentage while managing a .364 mark of their own with two blocks and a service ace. Despite six kills out of the hands of
Lauren Klaith, a 10-1 lead for the Titans developed into an eventual 25-17 set three score in favor of UW-Oshkosh.
The Gusties sealed their first victory of the year in set four, this time jumping out to a 10-1 lead of their own, thanks to a nine-point run with
Marlee Turn on the serve. Oshkosh was plagued by attack errors throughout the set, ending with 11 on 42 total attempts in the set. Klaith continued to deliver for the Gusties, posting a .545 hitting percentage in set four to help the Gusties claim the win. The Titans closed the Gustie lead to single digits on a trio of Gustie attack errors late in the set, but sealed their fate with an attack error of their own to end the set and match with a 25-17 victory for the Gusties.
Lauren Klaith picked up right where she left off in her All-American 2023 season, leading the Gustie offense with 21 kills and a .419 attack percentage.
Sydney Timm and
Sophia Deyak each added 12 kills of their own to the Gustie total.
Kasie Tweet once again directed the offense, dishing out 44 assists. With her lone dig in the third set, Tweet surpassed 1,000 career digs, a mark achieved by only 13 other players in Gustavus program history.
Maren Sundberg led the back line with 28 digs, while
Marlee Turn chipped in 12 and seniors
Brynn Smith and
Payton Auseth each added nine.
Gustavus 3, Transylvania 2
Match number two of the day was certainly filled with excitement, as the Pioneers took a quick 2-0 set lead. Transylvania held the attacking advantage through the first two sets, holding Gustavus to a 0.062 in the first set and a .243 in the second to win 25-19 and 25-20. The Gusties hit their wake-up call in set three though, claiming a 25-21 victory to get the wheels turning.
The two teams went back and forth in set one, with eight tie scores and three lead changes throughout the set. The Gusties overcame an early deficit with
Maren Sundberg on the serve, but a combined eight kills from Transylvania's Isabella Myers and Addie Atcher ended the set in favor of the Pioneers.
Set two was yet another battle, but Transylvania never relinquished the lead, hitting with a .325 efficiency and forcing five Gustie attack errors. A well-balanced attack gave TU the advantage, getting more than two kills from six different players in the 25-20 set two victory. It seemed as if the No. 11 team was going to walk away with the match in three sets.
Enter the Gusties.
Gustavus forced seven attack errors from the Pioneers in set three, and leaned on
Lauren Klaith to give the team the push they needed. With
Marlee Turn on the serve, the Gusties grabbed the set momentum with a 6-1 early lead. The Gusties built their lead to as many as seven, but TU fought back to take the lead at 18-17. Kills from Klaith and
Sydney Timm pushed the lead back in favor of the Black & Gold, who took set three 25-21.
The Gusties impressed in set four, committing zero attacking errors with 18 kills on 27 attempts, including six kills from Klaith. The team added three blocks and two service aces to shut down the Pioneers, forcing a set five with a 25-19 victory.
All the energy was in favor of the Gusties heading into set five. All-American fifth-years
Lauren Klaith and
Marlee Turn led the attack, each picking up three kills in the make-or-break set.
Payton Auseth proved to be the difference maker, serving two of the Gusties' final three points, including a service ace to put the team within one of victory.
Sophia Deyak gave the Gusties' their second nationally-ranked win of the day, as Tweet directed her the final kill of the match to complete the comeback.
Klaith totaled 20 kills in match two of the day, while Deyak added 13, Timm 11, and Turn posted 10. Tweet picked up 46 assists, as well as four kills, to direct the offense. Sundberg led a balanced defense, posting 23 digs, while 11 other Gusties chipped in a dig in the match.
The Gusties, now 2-0 to start the season over two top-15 programs, will face host Colorado College at 1 p.m. tomorrow, followed my Millikin to close out the weekend at 6 p.m.
