Notables
-CSS finishes their regular season at 12-15 (6-2 UMAC)
-The Saints are now 31-0 against Crown in the all-time series
-CSS last UMAC tournament championship came in 2011, which included a semifinal victory over Morris
-Since the existence of the UMAC, the Saints have never missed the end-of-season tournament
-Both Belden (232) and Elvehjem (214) eclipsed the 200+ mark in kills on the year
ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The College of St. Scholastica volleyball team took care of business Saturday afternoon, closing out its regular season with a 3-0 sweep over Crown College.
The final conference match for both teams was a tale of two stories. For Crown, the match against CSS was their last chance to earn a mark in the win column as far as their conference record goes. With Martin Luther College's loss last night, the Saints knew they were the No. 3 seed for next week's UMAC Tournament, so they wanted to enter tournament play with momentum.
The first set of the match was dominated early on by St. Scholastica, as they jumped out to an early 5-1 lead over Crown. The early lead was quickly erased, however, as the Storm strung together a few runs to eventually come back and take the lead over at 12-11. The set was indeed run after run, as CSS then took their turn by going on a 7-0 run to regain a commanding 18-12 lead. Four of those seven points within the run were due to attacking errors from Crown. Attack errors continued to haunt the Storm as they recorded five more in the back-half of the set, with the final one ending the set at 25-16 in favor of the Saints.
The second set began with both teams trading points for the first six volleys, that is until CSS found their groove. With the scoreboard reading 3-3, the Saints scored 12 unanswered points to climb out to a 15-3 lead.
The 12-point lead would be altered a few points throughout the remainder of the set, but the difference of 12 would find its way back on the scoreboard as the final score read 25-13 to give the Saints a 2-0 set lead. Amanda Belden (Esko, Minn./Esko HS) and Noelle Elvehjem (Mora, Minn./Mora HS) combined for eight kills in the set.
CSS yet again started off on the right foot in set number three, jumping out to another early 5-1 lead. Once again, much like that of the first set, Crown slowly crawled back into the match and found themselves within one point at 12-11.
Again, following the footsteps of set one, the Saints sparked a quick 6-1 run to regain control of the set at 18-12. Emily Bounds (Hill City, Minn./Hill City HS) recorded four straight kills for the Saints in the run. Crown seemed to find their rhythm again, but it was too little too late as the Saints closed out the sweep with a 25-18 victory after a Christaia Houser (Esko, Minn./Homeschool) kill sealed the match.
Elvehjem led the Saints offensively with a match-high 10 kills, followed closely behind by Bounds who recorded seven on the day. Emily Kessler (Grand Rapids, Minn./Greenway HS (Itasca CC)) and Emily Jansen (Long Prairie, Minn./Long Prairie-Grey Eagle HS) combined for 25 assists as they recorded 13 and 12, respectively. Alex Barsody (Onamia, Minn./Onamia HS) was all over the floor, accumulating a total of 19 digs in the three sets played.
Up Next
The Saints start their quest to regain the title as best team in the conference when they travel to Morris, Minnesota for a semifinal matchup against the University of Minnesota Morris Cougars at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night.
