Notables
- The Saints have never finished at or under .500 in conference play since 1987, which they are currently at with two games left
- The Saints have lost their last 10 matches against the Eagles, with their last win coming in 2011
- The Saints recorded 20 kills in the third set alone, their most since September 26 (20)
DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica volleyball team took a tough loss Saturday afternoon after dropping the first three sets to conference co-leader University of Northwestern at the Reif Gymnasium.
The Saints started off hot, grabbing a 6-3 lead against Northwestern in the early going of set number one. The set then proceeded to go back and forth until the Saints found themselves up 15-12, which is when the Eagles got rolling. Northwestern stormed back on a 7-1 run to take the lead 19-16 late in the set. The Eagles faltered twice at set point, giving the Saints a change to get back in it, but closed it out on the third try to take set one by a score of 25-21.
The second set was a back-and-forth affair early on, as both teams made costly errors and found themselves tied at six points apiece. Northwestern, who is undefeated in UMAC play, then started to build a steady lead over St. Scholastica, taking a 17-11 lead after the early 6-6 tie. It didn't get any better for the Saints, as the Eagles kept on marching to a 25-18 victory in set two. Nikki Kienzle (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown HS) wouldn't go down without a fight, however, as she scored back to back points in the final volleys of the second set to try and pull the Saints back in it.
Once again, just like the second set, the game found itself in a deadlock tie after the early part of the set was over, this time at 7-7. After the tie, the set turned in a way it hadn't in the previous ones, as St. Scholastica started to take a lead over the Eagles, scoring four straight points from four different players to jump up 11-7. A four to five point lead would remain steady for the majority of the second set, and the Saints found themselves up 22-16 before Northwestern decided to call a timeout and regroup.
The timeout did wonders for the Eagles, as they came out of it on fire and scored four out of the five next points in the set to make it 23-20. Kariana DeYoung (Deer River, Minn./Deer River HS) then notched point 24 to put the Saints one point away from heading to a fourth set, but the Eagles had different ideas. The Eagles went on a four point run to tie it up at 24-24 and then fell victim to DeYoung again, this time giving the Saints a 26-25 lead. The Eagles then scored three straight points to complete the three-set sweep.
Lindsey Peterson recorded a game-high 13 kills for the Eagles, followed closely by teammate Shanay Gonder who recorded 12. The Saints were led by Kortney Morrin (Grantsburg, Wis./Grantsburg HS (Northern State)), who recorded 10 kills and 14 digs. Kariana DeYoung (Deer River, Minn./Deer River HS) recorded a team-high two blocks in the match.
The Saints fall to 13-12 on the season with a 3-3 record in conference play, while the Eagles move to 22-8 overall and remain undefeated in the conference at 6-0.
Up Next
The Saints will travel to Ashland, Wisconsin on Wednesday to take on conference foe Northland College. The game is slated to start at 7 p.m. and will be the last road game of the regular season for the Saints.
