WHITEWATER, Wis. – The Gustavus Adolphus College volleyball team competed in the opening day of the Dig Panici Classic hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Friday night with matches against the North Central College Cardinals and host UW-Whitewater. The Gusties took down the Cardinals 3-1 though later fell 3-2 to the Warhawks, moving to 12-10 overall this fall.
Match One: North Central
Gustavus and North Central stood tied 6-6 early in the opening set of their match until a 6-0 run for the Gusties gave them a 12-6 lead. The Cardinals fought back and managed to cut Gustavus' lead down to two points at 13-11, but the Gusties never gave up back-to-back points the rest of the set as they went on to take it 25-17.
In the second set, Gustavus kept up their momentum and took a 10-3 early lead. The Gusties led 12-6 when North Central found their stride as the Cardinals went on to win nine of the next 10 points to go up 15-13 over Gustavus. North Central went on to reach set point up 24-21, but the Gusties won three in a row to even it up at 24-all. Gustavus fended off three more set points and then had their first of the set up 29-28, but the Cardinals won three points in a row to close out the marathon set 31-29 to even the match score at 1-1.
The third set was closely contested throughout. The Gusties rallied from down 11-8 early to go on a 4-1 run to tie the set at 11-11. The Cardinals took a 24-21 lead late in the game, but Gustavus rallied to win five in a row and take the set 26-24.
Gustavus used an early five-point run in the fourth set to jump out to a 13-8 lead. The two teams traded points until a 6-1 run put the Gusties up 21-12. The Cardinals won two more points, but Gustavus took care of business to complete the 25-14 set win to take the match 3-1.
Logan Brent had a phenomenal 22 kills on .395 hitting in the match while also leading Gustavus with 16 digs.
Sahara Morken orchestrated the Gusties attack with 49 assists.
Lainie Barrick had nine kills on .350 hitting to go along with six total blocks.
Match Two: UW-Whitewater
Gustavus used a five-point run to take an early 8-4 lead in the first set of their second match at UW-Whitewater. The closely-contested set reached 20-20 but then the Gusties won five of the final six points to take it 25-21 to go up 1-0 in the match.
In the second set, Gustavus took a 9-6 lead with a four-point run. UW-Whitewater tied the set at 14-14, but the Gusties retook the lead and went up 21-17. The Warhawks rallied again to tie the set at 23-23, fended off a Gustavus set point, and then won four of the final five points to take the set 27-25.
The Gusties led 8-6 in the third until a seven-point run for UW-Whitewater gave them the lead up 13-8. Gustavus responded by taking seven of the next nine to tie the set up at 15-all. The Gusties later went on a four-point run to take a 22-19 lead late in the set en route to a 25-21 set win to retake the lead in the match, up 2-1.
Gustavus led again in the fourth set up 9-7 until the Warhawks went on an eight-point run to go up 15-9. The Gusties battled the rest of the set but the eight-point swing was too much to overcome as UW-Whitewater took the set 25-20 to tie the match up at 2-2.
In the fifth set, Gustavus led 5-3 early but then the Warhawks took seven of the next 10 to take a 10-6 lead. The Gusties won five of the next six to tie the set at 11-11 and the two teams started to trade points down the closing stretch. Tied at 13-all, UW-Whitewater took the final two points back to back to take the set 15-13 and the match 3-2.
Brent had 18 kills on .111 hitting in the match. Morken and
Macie Malchow split the setter duties, recording 24 and 21 assists respectively.
Ava Hahn led the Gusties with 22 digs in the match.
Up Next
Gustavus will take on Carthage College on Saturday, October 24 at 11:00 a.m. in their final match of the Dig Panici Classic.
