ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Gustavus volleyball team (7-7) faced its greatest challenge of the season Saturday morning, which is a statement to be made, considering the team has already played five nationally-ranked opponents, including three with top-ten status according to the AVCA. The Gusties met No. 3 UW-Whitewater in their final match of the Wash U Bear Invite, falling in three to the Warhawks (12-1, 0-1 WIAC).
From the first serve, Whitewater demonstrated its offensive power, getting nine straight points to start the match with Alayna Jansky on the serve. The Warhawks totaled six kills and a pair of service aces in that time, taking a 9-0 lead over the Gusties. Gustavus couldn't recover from the early deficit, managing only five kills through the first set, compared to eight attacking errors for the team. Whitewater collected a trio of service aces as well as five blocks, and held the Gustie offense to a negative attaching percentage.
The second set of the match was more of the same for UWW, taking a 13-5 lead early after 10 consecutive points with Ally Longden on the serve. Whitewater had seven kills in that run, separating themselves from the Gusties early.
Sophia Deyak (So., Iowa City, Iowa) helped the Gusties to a better attacking percentage in the second set, totaling a team-leading four kills with just one error. The Gusties managed to tie the score twice, but Whitewater ran away with it, taking a 2-0 lead in the match off a kill from Jansky.
The Gusties found their bearings in set three, taking their most significant lead of the match in what turned out to be the final set. After a tie score at 8-8, the Gusties used kills from Deyak and a pair of Whitewater attacking errors to take a 12-8 lead. They built their lead to as many as six multiple times, but struggled to keep the Warhawks at arm's length, as they stormed back into the set, closing things out on a seven-point run. A pair of timeouts in the final stretch wasn't enough for the Gusties' to regroup, as a trio of Warhawk kills ended the match in favor of the No. 3-ranked team in the country.
Following a career-day on Friday, Deyak continued to lead the Gustie offense, totaling seven kills and four blocks in the loss.
Lauren Klaith (5th, Rockford) and
Sydney Timm (Jr., Lakeville) each added seven kills as well, while
Kasie Tweet (5th, Adrian) had 18 assists in the match. Nine Gusties collected a dig, led by
Maren Sundberg (Jr., Eagan) with 14, while Tweet and
Kyra Johnson (Fy., Esko) added eight each.
After 14 matches on the road, the Gusties return home to Gus Young Court Wednesday, hosting Carleton (8-4) for their home and conference opener at 7 p.m.
