Box Score Box Score

ST. PAUL – The St. Scholastica volleyball team suffered its first regular season conference loss since 2009 after falling in five sets Friday night at Northwestern College.

The Saints last lost in conference play to the Eagles on October 31, 2009. Since then the Saints have rattled off 18 straight regular season Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) victories. The Saints and Eagles now have an all-time series record of 41-41-1.

In the first set, the Saints had the upper hand through the midway point of the set, but the Eagles rallied to take a 23-22 lead. However, after a service error, the Saints got a kill from Paige Hardy (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing HS) and got an attack error by Northwestern to take the opening set 25-23.

The difference in the second set was a 6-0 run the Eagles used midway though and evened up the match a set apiece, winning 25-19.

CSS responded by jumping out to an 11-4 lead in the third set and never looked back to take it by a score 25-15. Northwestern would not be denied on its home court on Homecoming and had a 5-0 run and a 4-0 run in the fourth set to force a fifth-and-deciding set 25-21.

In the fifth set, the Saints took an early 4-1 lead, but that was short-lived and the Eagles quickly tied the match up. The Eagles then closed out the match scoring nine of the last 11 points to take the match 15-8.

Northwestern (19-2, 7-0 UMAC) saved its best hitting until the end with its top attack percentages taking place in the fourth and fifth sets.

Hardy led the Saints with 17 kills and also added 12 digs. Anna Zyvoloski (Sauk Rapids, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral HS (Minn.-Duluth)) had 13 kills and a team-high 19 digs. Taylor Tyllia (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) chipped in with 10 kills. Sarah Kurtovich (Andover, Minn./Andover HS) had 39 assists and Nikki Hughes (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern HS) added 14 digs.

The Saints (14-6, 4-1 UMAC) will wrap up play this weekend with a match against Crown College tomorrow. The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.