SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College volleyball team hosted the St. Olaf College Oles in a conference match on Wednesday night for their home opener in the newly renovated Lund Center. The Gusties took the opening set but dropped the following three as they fell 3-1 to the Oles, moving to 11-5 on the season and 4-1 in the MIAC. The night was highlighted by
Sahara Morken notching her 1,000
th career assist for Gustavus on the first point of the match.
In the opening set, St. Olaf led 7-6 early until Gustavus caught fire for a 10-3 run to take a 16-10 lead. The Oles won the next four in a row to pull withing two points down just 16-14, but the Gusties took the next three to jump back up 19-14. Gustavus later led 23-18 late in the set. St. Olaf then took three in a row try and keep the set alive, but the Gusties won back-to-back points to take the set 25-21.
The Oles jumped out to a big lead in the second set, going up 10-4 early. Gustavus fought back and pulled within three points down 11-8, but St. Olaf then went on a 9-3 run to go up 20-11. Undeterred, the Gusties caught a wave and rattled off seven points in a row to cut the Oles' lead down to just two points at 20-18. St. Olaf won the following three points and went on to take the set 25-20 to even the match score at 1-1.
In the third set, two big runs by the Oles proved to be the difference. Trailing 10-9, St. Olaf went on a 5-0 run to take a 14-10 lead. Later leading 16-15, the Oles strung together a 7-0 run to go up 23-15 en route to a 25-18 set win, going up 2-1 in the match.
Gustavus started the fourth set strong, taking an early 9-4 lead. St. Olaf responded by taking 10 of the next 13 points to go up 14-12. The Gusties tied the set at 15-all, but the Oles took five of the next seven points to go up 20-17. The two teams traded two-point runs down the stretch as Gustavus would pull within one and then St. Olaf would go back up by three until the score reached match point at 24-21 for the Oles. The Gusties staved off one match point, but St. Olaf clinched the win on the following point, taking the set 25-22 and the match 3-1.
Sophia Deyak led Gustavus with 14 kills on .276 hitting. Morken ended up with 32 assists on her milestone night.
Ava Hahn led the defense with 29 digs in the match.
Up next for Gustavus is the Blugold Alumni Weekend Invitational this Saturday, October 10 where the Gusties will take on two of the top 10 teams in the nation in back-to-back matches. The first match for Gustavus is against the No. 1 UW-Oshkosh, the top team in the nation, at 4:00 p.m. The Gusties will then take on No. 7 UW Eau-Claire right afterwards at 6:00 p.m.
