Notables
- Belden's 13 kills ties her career high as a Saint
- Bounds set a new collegiate best with six kills
- The win helps CSS avoid starting 0-2 in UMAC play, which hasn't happened since 2006

DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica volleyball team added its first mark to the win column in conference play Tuesday night at Reif Gymnasium after taking down North Central University by a score of 3-0.

The Saints rebounded from a tough conference opener loss to Minnesota Morris by making quick work of the North Central Rams, defeating them by scores of 25-4, 25-15, 25-16.

The first set was arguably one of St. Scholastica's best sets of the season. The Saints got off to a 7-0 lead thanks to kills from Amanda Belden (Esko, Minn./Esko HS) and Noelle Elvehjem (Mora, Minn./Mora HS), as well as a few key errors from North Central. The set evened out for a bit until the score read 11-3, which is when the Saints blew the lead wide open. They scored 13 straight points to make the score 24-3 before closing it out at 25-4.

The second set started quite similar to the first, as the Saints took an early 5-0 lead before allowing the Rams to score a point. After the quick start the Saints started to slow down a bit, but still managed to hold a 24-11 lead before the Rams scored four unanswered points before the Saints put them away. Elvehjem had the most kills in the set, recording five. Emily Bounds (Hill City, Minn./Hill City HS) contributed four kills in the set as well.

The third set proved to be the closest of the night, with the final score being 25-16 in favor of CSS. Again, the Saints started off strong and found themselves up 7-1 early on. North Central fought hard and managed to claw back into the set until the 17-14 mark, where the Saints scored four straight points to all but seal the last set. Belden recorded seven kills in the last set.

Belden led the Saints with 13 kills in the match, while Elvehjem added 10 of her own. Danielle Benusa (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee HS) had a team-high 11 digs, while Nikki Kienzle (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown HS) recorded three blocks.

The Rams were led by Karlee Huber, who had a team-high 11 kills. Anna Larson had 14 digs and Elissa Pheneger had a match-high 19 assists.

The win puts St. Scholastica at 10-7 (1-1 UMAC) on the season, while North Central falls to 4-7 (0-2 UMAC) on the year.

Up Next
The Saints will try to improve their UMAC record to 2-1 when they take on Bethany Lutheran on Saturday at home. The match is set to start at 1 p.m.