ST. PAUL, Minn. - The No. 21 nationally ranked Gustavus Adolphus College volleyball team defeated the St. Catherine Wildcats 3-1 in a conference match on Saturday night, improving to 14-2 overall and 2-0 in the MIAC.
 
The Gusties and Wildcats traded leads throughout the first half of the first set. At 16-16, however, Gustavus caught fire to close out the set on a 9-3 run, securing the opening set 25-19.
 
St. Kate's responded in set two. In another back-and-forth set, this time the Wildcats had the edge towards the close of the set, leading 24-19 late. The Gusties kept up the fight and won the next three points to claw to within two, but a Wildcat kill secured the set 25-22 for St. Kate's, tying the match at 1-1.
 
Now a best two-of-three, Gustavus leapt out the gate at full speed in set three to take an early 8-1 lead. The Wildcats found their footing and slowly started to climb back trailing 13-8, but then the Gusties won nine consecutive points to take a commanding 22-8 lead. Gustavus took the set 25-11 to go up 2-1 in the match.
 
Gustavus started strong in the fourth set as well, taking an early 9-4 lead. St. Kate's battled back to cut the Gusties' lead down to one at 13-12, and then both teams traded the next 12 points back and forth until the Wildcats won two in a row to tie the set at 19-19. At that point, Gustavus went on a 6-2 run to close out the set 25-21 and the match 3-1 to stay undefeated in the MIAC.
 
Leah Berg led the Gustie's attack with 13 kills on .385 hitting. Macie Malchow orchestrated the offense with 33 assists and had nine digs. Maren Sundberg led Gustavus with 27 digs in the win.
 
Up next for the Gusties is a return to Saint Peter for a home match against the University of Northwestern-St. Paul Eagles on Wednesday, October 1 at 7:00 p.m.
  Read Full Article