STEVENS POINT, Wis. - The No. 20 nationally ranked Gustavus Adolphus College volleyball team wrapped up play at the UW-Stevens Point Papa John's Invitational on Saturday with a pair of five-set thrillers, defeating Millikin before falling to the host Pointers. The Gusties opened the day with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Millikin (25-16, 21-25, 27-25, 22-25, 15-6) and closed the tournament with a narrow 3-2 loss to UW-Stevens Point (25-13, 25-22, 23-25, 20-25, 9-15). With the results, Gustavus finished 2-1 on the weekend and moved to 16-4 overall.
In the win over Millikin, the pivotal third set was a back-and-forth affair with neither team holding a lead of more than two points. Down 17-15, the Gusties ran off four consecutive points to take a 19-17 lead, but Millikin rallied to take a 24-23 lead. With the set tied at 25-25, Gustavus registered two straight points to claim the 27-25 win and took the 2-1 advantage. Millikin sent the match to a fifth set by claiming the fourth set 25-22. The Gusties saved their best for last as they jumped out to a 7-1 lead on their way to a decisive 15-6 win.
Sydney Timm led the Gusties overall with 18 kills, followed closely by
Leah Berg with 16 and
Logan Brent with 14.
Ella Olson sparked the service line with six aces, while
Greta Tompkins added six blocks at the net.
Macie Malchow dished out 27 assists, and
Sahara Morken tallied 18.
The Gusties carried that momentum into their second match of the day, jumping out to a 2-0 lead against host UW-Stevens Point before the Pointers rallied to claim the next three sets. Gustavus came charging out of the gate and took a 12-5 lead in the first set before winning 25-13. In the second set, the Gusties trailed 19-13 before running off six straight points to tie the match at 19-19. With the score tied at 22-22, Gustavus used kills by
Leah Berg,
Sydney Timm, and
Logan Brent to close out the set at 25-22. The Pointers rallied to win the third and fourth sets by the scores of 25-23 and 25-20, forcing the decisive fifth set. With the score tied at 6-6, UW-Stevens Point scored seven straight points to pull away from the Gusties and claimed the 3-2 win by the score of 15-9. Berg once again paced the Gustavus offense with 20 kills, while Brent added 15 and Timm chipped in 14. Tompkins turned in a strong overall performance, posting four aces and five blocks. Morken distributed 28 assists, and Malchow added 22. Defensively,
Maren Sundberg led the back row with 25 digs, followed by Olson with 20 and Morken with 13.
The Gusties return to MIAC play next week, traveling to Northfield to face St. Olaf on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and then hosting Augsburg on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. at Gus Young Court.
