Notables
-CSS is now 13-0 all-time against NCU, sweeping them in every match
-St. Scholastica clinches playoff berth, having yet to miss the postseason since 1998
-CSS is now 9-1 this year when having a hitting percentage higher than .200.
DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The College of St. Scholastica volleyball team clinched the fifth and final spot in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) postseason tournament, defeating the North Central University Rams at the Reif Gymnasium Wednesday night in a 3-0 sweeping fashion.
The Saints found themselves down early against the visiting Rams, falling behind at a score of 7-5. This deficit didn't last long, however, as the Saints strung together an 8-0 run capped off by a
Madissen Burns (Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer HS) kill to take the lead at 13-7.
The Rams then scored a few in return, but the short run would be stopped by
Emily Bounds (Hill City, Minn./Hill City HS), who rattled off back-to-back kills to keep CSS in front.
Christaia Houser (Esko, Minn./Homeschool) then connected on two kills of her own, giving CSS an even larger lead before
Brooke Elvehjem (Mora, Minn./Mora HS) finished the set with a kill of her own to win 25-15.
The second set started similar to that of the first, as both teams found themselves deadlocked at four apiece. The Saints then went on a 6-1 run to bust things open and claim a 10-5 lead. A few volleys later, Burns earned back-to-back kills off sets from
Espi Austvold (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer HS) to give the Saints a larger lead at 13-7. The Rams hung around for a bit in the middle of the second set, but the Saints shut down any hope of a comeback with a 4-1 run to close the door on the Rams 25-16.
Once again, in set three, both teams started quite even. This time, the Rams found another early lead when the scoreboard read 3-2 in favor of the visiting team. Once again, the Saints put together a dominating run of 8-1 with three Houser service aces to put them ahead at 8-3. The rest of the set proved to be much like the first two, as the Saints slowly built off their early run to take another win in conference play. This time, the set closed out with
Brooke Schermann (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Totino-Grace HS) recording two aces to end it at 25-14.
The Saints now advance to 12-18 (8-7 UMAC) and secure the final spot in the conference postseason tournament at the No. 5 seed. North Central falls to 2-25 overall and has yet to record a win in UMAC play (0-15).
Top Performers
St. Scholastica was led by Burns and Houser, who each recorded 10 kills in the victory. They both recorded three blocks as well, and Austvold tallied up 35 assists in the three sets.
Emma Middendorf led the Rams with nine kills, while Bethany Wollman recorded five blocks in the loss.
Up Next
The Saints will now welcome Crown College in the regular season finale, which will take place on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the Reif Gymnasium.
