Notables
-Schermann led the way for CSS with 13 kills in the two-match evening
-CSS now falls to 5-9 all-time versus St. Thomas and 5-25 against UW-Eau Claire
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The College of St. Scholastica volleyball team went into Friday's Augsburg University Invitational hoping to even out its early season record to 3-3. However, they faced fierce competition and ended up falling to both the University of St. Thomas (0-3) and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (1-3).
St. Thomas 3, CSS 0
The Saints opened up their four-match weekend against the University of St. Thomas Tommies, hoping to snap their three-match losing streak in the process. It didn't go the way the Saints were hoping as they fell in straight sets to the Tommies by scores of 25-14, 25-9, and 25-15.
The Saints were on their heels early, falling behind St. Thomas in the first set 5-0 before receiving their first point off a Tommie service error. St. Scholastica couldn't turn that small bit of momentum into anything positive, however, as they found themselves down 15-3 moments later in the set. The Saints finally earned their first point that wasn't due to a St. Thomas error when
Emily Bounds (Hill City, Minn./Hill City HS) connected on a kill to bring the score to 16-5. The Bounds' kill was followed by a few St. Thomas errors, which brought the Saints back to within single digits at 18-9.
Brooke Elvehjem (Mora, Minn./Mora HS) recorded back-to-back kills a few serves later on off some nice passing from
Espi Austvold (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer HS), but it ultimately wasn't enough as the Saints dropped the first set 25-14.
The second set was was all St. Thomas leading 11-1 at one point. CSS tried to climb its way back into the set, trading point-for-point for a few serves as both Elvehjem and
Brooke Schermann (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Totino-Grace HS) earned kills to make the score 16-7. The Tommies ran away with it after the Schermann kill, and despite a good middle-set showing the Saints couldn't overcome their slow start and fell 25-9 in set two.
The third set proved to be the best for the Saints as they finally got off to a good start by grabbing a 6-4 lead, with Bounds recording four kills in the process. Schermann then nailed a kill of her own to make the score 7-5, which is when the Tommies would reclaim the lead after going on a four-point run to jump back ahead at 9-7. As the set continued on, Bounds struck twice more to keep CSS within one at 13-12. UST went on a 12-3 run to close out the set, pushing away any thought of a reverse sweep as they took down the Saints 3-0.
UW-Eau Claire 3, CSS 1
The Saints regathered themselves for their next match against the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds. Despite falling yet again, the Saints improved as they picked up a set and fell in another by a score of 26-24.
Set one saw CSS come out of the gates hot, picking up an early 4-1 lead over the Blugolds. Much like the last set against St. Thomas, though, the Saints allowed the Blugolds to go on a 5-1 run as they squandered the lead. The Saints would get two kills from Houser later in the set, but the Blugolds proved to be too much in set one as they closed it out with six unanswered points to win 25-14.
The second set was the turn-around magic that CSS needed to bring their spirits back up as they throttled Eau Claire 25-16.
Madissen Burns (Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer HS) had a team-high six kills in the set. Not far behind her was
Christaia Houser (Esko, Minn./Homeschool), who recorded three kills of her own.
Set three was a back-and-forth affair as both the Saints and Blugolds ended up being tied at 24. To get there, the Saints needed someone to step up as they found themselves down 22-20. Schermann decided to take over, recorded three straight kills off passes from Austvold to give the Saints the lead at 23-22. Houser added three kills yet again throughout the set, but the Saints fell 26-24 and then 25-18 in the fourth set to close out the series at 3-1 in favor of the Blugolds.
Top Performers
Bounds proved to be the go-to player in the first match against St. Thomas as she recorded a team-high 10 kills in the contest.
Kelsi Rippberger (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) led the way for the Saints in the assist column, posting nine in the 3-0 loss.
CSS had two players eclipse the double-digit mark in kills against UW-Eau Claire, with Houser posting 12 and Schermann adding ten of her own. Burns also connected on eight of her 18 attempts for the Saints. Austvold paced the Saints with 22 assists and
McKenzie Orr (Rice Lake, Wis./Rice Lake HS) recorded a game-high 17 digs.
Up Next
The Saints are back in action tomorrow as they take on both No. 16 UW-La Crosse at 1 p.m. and Augsburg College at 3 p.m. at the Augsburg Invitational.
