OSHKOSH, Wis. – The No. 25 nationally ranked Gustavus Adolphus College volleyball team battled the Edgewood University Eagles in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship on Thursday night at the UW-Oshkosh Regional. The Gusties took down the Eagles in a 3-1 victory to advance to the Round of 32.
Gustavus jumped out to a 5-1 lead to open the first set. The Gusties built their lead up to as many as seven points as a
Sydney Timm kill gave them a 16-9 lead. Edgewood started to rally, cutting the Gusties' lead down to just five at 21-16, but Gustavus rattled off three in a row to reach set point up 24-16. Four points later, the Gusties secured a 25-19 victory.
The second set saw Edgewood strike back. Gustavus trailed for most of the set but was within five points down 19-14. Then, the Eagles went on a 5-0 run to go up 24-15. Two plays later, Edgewood secured the set and tied up the match at 1-1.
In set three, the Gusties led 8-5 early until a 5-1 run by the Eagles put Edgewood up 10-9. Gustavus then worked their way to a narrow 20-18 lead. At that point, Gustavus closed out the set with a five-zero run, taking the set 25-18 and going up 2-1.
Set four saw the Gusties take an early lead with a 5-2 run before the Eagles strung together a 6-0 run to go up 8-5. Gustavus responded with an 8-0 run to retake the lead up 13-8. The Gusties worked their way to a 21-15 lead, and then won four of the last five points with a
Addison Dirkes kill securing the set victory 25-16 and the match 3-1.
Leah Berg led the Gusties with 15 kills on .133 hitting. Brent Logan and Dirkes followed with 10 kills each.
Sahara Morken orchestrated the offense with 35 assists.
Maren Sundberg and
Ava Hahn both had 25 digs apiece.
Up next for the Gusties is the second round of the NCAA Tournament where they will face the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans on Friday, November 21 at 7:00 p.m.
