Tara Kramer keeps the ball in play for the Gusties.
Jenny Ewert digs a kill attempt against Northwestern.
Angela Ahrendt makes a play at the net.
The Gustavus volleyball team split two home matches on Homecoming Day defeating conference foe Hamline 3-0 and losing to non-conference opponent Northwestern 2-3. The Gusties used late runs to post wins in the first two sets against Hamline, but the Gusties could not stop the late runs by Northwestern in losing in five sets after leading the match 2-1. Gustavus is now 9-13 overall and 2-3 in the MIAC.
Against Hamline, Gustavus won the first and second sets with late runs and then jumped out to an early lead in the third set and held on to close out the match by a score of 3-0. In the first set, Gustavus outscored the Pipers 7-2 down the stretch to claim the 25-17 win. Then in the second set, the Gusties used a 9-5 run to post the 25-20 win. In the third and final set, Gustavus jumped out to an 18-9 lead and then held on for the 25-16 victory Meghan Gehring registered 13 kills, and Malea Noennig contributed 33 set assists and 13 digs.
Against Northwestern, the Gusties and Eagles battled through five challenging sets before Northwestern won the decisive fifth set by the score of 15-10. Gustavus won the first set 25-22, but then lost the second set 21-25. In the third set, the Gusties led 23-19 before Northwestern rallied to tie the score at 24-24. Gustavus battled back to win the set 26-24. In the fourth set, the Gusties led 22-20 and looked like they might close out the match, but the Eagles rallied to claim the set 26-24. In the fifth set, Gustavus and Northwestern were locked up in a tense struggle with the score tied at 9-9, but the Eagles closed out the set with a 6-1 run to win 15-10. Olivia Warren led the Gusties with 17 kills, while Janey Helland added 16 kills. Erin Sherman led the team defensively with 25 digs.