DULUTH, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College volleyball team traveled to Duluth on Friday to take on the College of St. Scholastica Saints in a conference match. The Gusties swept the Saints 3-0, winning by set scores of 25-18, 25-17, and 25-21. With the victory, Gustavus improved to 14-10 overall and 5-3 in the MIAC.
Gustavus jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the opening set before St. Scholastica responded with five consecutive points to take a 6-4 advantage. The Gusties answered with a 4-0 run, highlighted by a service ace from
Logan Brent and kills from
Greta Tompkins and
Meaghan Kreiser, to retake the lead at 8-6. Gustavus continued to build its advantage, eventually going on a 7-0 run to extend its lead to 19-9. The Gusties led 23-14 when the Saints responded with three consecutive points to cut the deficit to six at 23-17, but the Gusties held strong. Kreiser delivered two of the final three Gustavus points, including the set-winning kill, to give the Gusties the opening set 25-18 and a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Gusties carried their momentum into the second set, jumping out to a 5-2 lead before St. Scholastica cut the deficit to one at 5-4. Gustavus responded with a 5-0 run, highlighted by kills from Brent and Tompkins, to extend its advantage to 10-4. The Gusties continued to control the set, building their lead to seven at 14-7 before pushing it to eight at 18-10. Gustavus eventually extended its advantage to 11 points at 23-12, but the Saints fought back with a 5-1 run to cut the deficit to seven at 24-17. Kreiser then delivered the set-winning kill to secure a 25-17 victory and put Gustavus ahead 2-0 in the match.
The third set proved to be the most competitive of the match, with the two teams battling through nine ties in the early stages. St. Scholastica took a 7-5 lead before Gustavus responded with three consecutive points to move ahead 8-7. The Saints regained the lead at 10-8, but the Gusties battled back to tie the set at 10-10. After the Saints won the next point to regain the lead, Gustavus took control with an 8-1 run to build an 18-12 advantage. The Gusties extended their lead to eight at 22-14, but St. Scholastica refused to go away, rattling off six consecutive points to cut the deficit to two at 22-20. Gustavus responded to reach match point at 24-21 before
Ava Hahn delivered the final kill to give the Gusties the set 25-21 and complete the 3-0 sweep.
Brent led the way for Gustavus with 14 kills on .357 hitting while adding five digs and two service aces. Kreiser followed with nine kills on an impressive .500 hitting percentage, while Tompkins contributed seven kills on .250 hitting.
Lainie Barrick added four kills on .600 hitting while leading the Gusties' defensive effort at the net with five total blocks, including two solo blocks.
Sahara Morken orchestrated the Gustavus attack, recording 31 assists while adding two kills, five digs, and a service ace. Hahn and
Hannah Baron led the back-row defensive performance with six digs apiece. As a team, Gustavus recorded 40 kills on .337 hitting, six service aces, and eight total blocks in the victory.
Up next for the Gusties is a return to Saint Peter to host a triangular on Saturday, October 31, against Macalester College and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Gustavus will battle the Scots at 12:00 p.m. then take on the Pointers at 4:00 p.m.
