Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica women's volleyball team won its final two home games of the season on Wednesday night, sweeping UMAC foe Northland in straight sets, and downing cross-bridge rival UW-Superior in an exciting five set, back and forth battle.

The Saints came out strong against the Lady 'Jacks, taking 14 of the first 17 points. CSS quickly took a 5-0 lead to start the match, and Northland took two of the next three, pushing the score to 6-2. St. Scholastica responded with an 8-0 run that a Northland timeout was unable to halt, giving CSS a comfortable 14-2 lead. After a Saints' ball handling error ended the run, CSS put together another big 9-1 run, spurred by a pair of kills and blocks from senior Kayla Horbacz (Isanti, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti HS). Northland managed to put another pair of points on the board, but the Saints cruised through the first set, 25-6.

The second set was much of the same as CSS jumped out to a 6-1 lead, in which Erika Birkeland (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake HS) recorded a pair of assists to Taylor Orhn (Coleraine, Minn./Greenway HS) and a kill. However, Northland would respond with a run of their own, taking five of the next six points to close the gap to 7-6 in favor of the Saints. St. Scholastica responded by running away with the set and never looking back. The Saints went on a 10-1 run to take a 17-7 lead, and ended with an 8-2 run, totaling an 18-3 run to end the set in convincing fashion. During the 10-1 run, four different Saints recorded kills.

Northland would not go down without a fight, as the third set began 6-5 in favor of CSS. After a 4-1 Saints' run, St. Scholastica took control with a 6-1 run to push the score to 16-7, with the final three points coming off of Orhn kills. The teams then split the next six points to make the score 19-10, but the Saints would prove to be too much, ending on another 6-1 run to give CSS a 25-11 victory, winning the match in straight sets. Kariana DeYoung (Deer River, Minn./Deer River HS) led the Saints with 11 kills, three aces and nine digs, while Orhn finished with 10 kills. Birkeland finished with 16 assists and Emily Jansen (Long Prairie, Minn./Long Prairie-Grey Eagle HS) recorded 11 assists and 7 digs.

The second game of the doubleheader proved to be a nail-biter as the Saints simply refused to let the win slip away. However, it was the YellowJackets who took the first set. UW- Superior opened the match by taking three points of the set, and opened an 11-6 lead after some sloppy mistakes from the Saints, forcing a CSS timeout. After the timout, the Saints battled back to bring the score to 11-15. However, UWS would go on a 7-1 run, capitalizing on a pair of attack errors and a pair of poor sets to give the 'Jackets a commanding 21-12 lead. The Saints would be unable to mount a comeback in the first set, falling 25-15.

The second set was a back and forth battle as the game opened with a 6-5 UW-Superior lead. After the 'Jackets went on a quick 4-1 run, CSS went on a 5-1 run of their own to tie the set at 11. After fighting to a 15-14 lead, UWS quickly went on a 5-0 run to retake the lead, 19-15, prompting a CSS timeout. The teams split the next eight points to bring the game to 23-19 in favor of Superior, and the Saints took another timeout. After the timeout, the Saints put on an offensive clinic, taking seven of the final eight points to stun the Yellowjackets and steal set two, despite two YellowJacket timeouts to try to stop the bleeding. Kortney Morrin (Grantsburg, Wis./Grantsburg HS (Northern State)) led the way in the Saints' offensive outburst, recording four kills in the final seven points for CSS.

UW-Superior showed their toughness by coming back and taking the third set. The set began with a 5-5 draw, but Superior took five of the next eight to open up a 10-7 lead. The Saints battled to bring the deficit to two at 13-11, but a quick 3-1 run to push the score to 16-12 caused St. Scholastica to call a timeout. However, the YellowJacket offensive firepower came out after the break, as UWS went on a 9-3 run to end the set. Keely Deadrick had five assists in the final run for the 'Jackets, as she racked up 65 for the match.

The Saints continued to fight in the fourth set, taking advantage of some UW-Superior mistakes to open up a 7-5 lead. After UWS took the next point, CSS quickly took the next four points to extend the lead to 11-6, prompting a Superior timeout. Aftter the break, the YellowJackets would battle back to cut the lead to two at 13-11 on a pair of kills from both Alissa Autio and Jessica Dvergsten. However, CSS would respond by going on a 5-0 streak to force another UWS timeout. Down 18-11, the 'Jackets responded with their best punch, taking 12 of the next 14 and opened up a 23-20 lead, despite two St. Scholastica timeouts to try to slow down the UWS momentum. However, the Saints withstood the 'Jacket barrage and would not let the game slip away, rallying back to tie the match at 24. After the teams tied at 25, CSS would go on to force a fifth set by taking the final two points. Four different players recorded kills in the final seven points for St. Scholastica, as the home team took set four 27-25.

Much like the three sets beforehand, neither team was able to establish a large lead early on. The Yellowjackets took three of the first four, and CSS took the next four four to bring the score to 5-3. UW-Superior quickly recovered and tied the game at six and seven, but took a precautionary timeout when CSS took a 9-7 lead on kills from Noelle Elvehjem (Mora, Minn./Mora HS) and Orhn. UWS took two of the next three to cut the lead to 10-9, but a pair of kills from Morrin and an attack error forced another 'Jacket timeout to try to spur a final rally. After taking the next point to bring the score to 13-10 in favor of CSS, Morrin finished the Birkeland assist, and Horbacz, who had just subbed in, finished the game with a thunderous kill to give the Saints the win, taking the final set 15-10.

Morrin came up big for the Saints, recording multiple kills in crunch time and finishing with 21 for the game, along with 18 digs. DeYoung continued her strong play, finishing second with 13 kills, while Danielle Benusa (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee HS) led the way with 21 digs. Orhn also had another solid all-around performance with seven kills and 14 digs. Birkeland finished with 28 assists.

The Saints will finish the regular season on the road next weekend and look to keep their three game winning streak alive as it travels to Mankato to take on Bethany Lutheran next Friday night. St. Scholastica also looks to sneak into third place in the conference standings, as CSS also faces Martin Luther on Saturday, who is third in the UMAC (Upper Midwest Athletic Conference) standings.