Notables
- Myhre has a career-high 28 assists
- Yackley records a .333 hitting % in second contest
- Slettedahl earns 3 blocks in first action
DUBUQUE, Iowa – The St. Scholastica volleyball team trekked down to Dubuque, Iowa for their first two matches of the four game trip. They would face two teams they haven't seen for quite some time, their last match against the University of Dubuque was a 0-3 loss back in 2006. The last time they played the Blue Jays of Westminster College was in 2016 and it saw the Saints grab the 3-1 victory. Both matches for the new era Saints would unfortunately lead to a 0-3 defeat.
Game One
The Spartans would grab the first two points until
Mikala Peterson (Mora, Minn./Mora HS) got her team on the board with a kill. In the early set, the two teams would go back-and-forth,
Ava Swangstue (Grand Forks, N.D./Red River HS) would secure a kill to only be down by one point as the score was 6-5. Another kill by Peterson and then by
Olivia Bauer (Faribault, Minn./Faribault HS) would again still see the Saints down 9-8, and from there Dubuque would take control and score nine straight to eventually grab the first set 25-12.
Set two would see the Spartans stay in control as they had a large 11-1 advantage over the Saints. A service error by the foes would allow the Saints to breathe as they were down 10-22, but CSS would gain some much needed momentum as they would go on a 8-0 run. This scoring streak included a block assist from Swangstue, and
Delaney Schaeffer (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd HS), Schaeffer would also secure a solo block.
Natalie Yackley (New Ulm, Minn./New Ulm HS) would score on two service aces and Bauer would add another kill.
The already large margin from the Spartans would allow them to go ahead and score three more points to take the second set 25-19. The third and final set would be all Dubuque as they marched to a 25-2 victory.
Top Performers
Emma Fretheim (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville HS), Swangstue, and Peterson all tied with 3 kills apiece,
Grace Myhre (Aberdeen, S.D./Aberdeen Central HS) recorded six assists, and
Bryn Ziegler (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson HS) added nine digs to her totals.
Game Two
Game two for Saints Volleyball against Westminster would see much closer matches. Both teams would battle back and forth going point-for-point in the first set. The Saints would have leads of 7-5 and 11-9 early until the Blue Jays scored seven straight and won the first set 25-19.
The second set saw the Saints jump out early and score three straight, after a Yackley kill, CSS would have its largest lead of the night by five. Westminster would rally back though and tie the game up at 11 apiece, until CSS scored another three in a row to lead 14-11. This game would come down to the wire as the teams once again were tied at 21 and then eventually 23. The Blue Jays would be able to scrape by and score the last two points in the second frame.
The third set had Westminster leading 6-2 early, but the Saints regained the lead as they scored five straight points, which included some key blocks from first year
Emily Slettedahl (Roseville, Minn./Roseville HS). The teams would again tie with nine points each, but the Blue Jays would slowly peck away at the lead and be able to secure the final set 25-18.
Top Performers
Yackley led the Saints with 11 kills on the evening, Bauer had 3 aces, Slettedahl contributed three blocks, Ziegler again led the Saints with 13 digs, right behind her was teammate
Quinlyn Rubeck (Fall Creek, Wis./Fall Creek HS) with nine, while Myhre had a career-high 28 assists.Â
Up Next
The Saints (2-7) will wrap up their Iowa weekend with two games at the Loras Invite, which includes a 10 a.m. match versus Loras College and a noon contest versus Monmouth College.
