Alyssa Taylor led the Gustie offense for the fourth straight match, finishing with 15 kills and hitting .400.
St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss, its first in two matches, to Saint Benedict on Saturday afternoon at Gus Young Court. After Saint Benedict took the lead with a 25-18 win in the opening set, Gustavus tied the match at 1-1 with a 25-20 win in the second. The Blazers responded with a 25-17 win in the third and a match-clinching 25-16 victory in the fourth. Gustavus concludes the weekend 1-1 and now carries an overall record of 11-12 and an MIAC mark of 5-4. Saint Ben’s picks up a pair of wins on the weekend and is now 18-8 overall and 7-2 in the MIAC.
The Blazers started out hot in the opening frame by grabbing a 5-0 lead and then later going up 14-5 following a 4-0 scoring-run. Saint Ben’s didn’t look back from there, holding on for the seven-point win.
The Gusties swung momentum their favor in the second set by jumping out to an 8-3 advantage. Although the Blazers brought the score to within a point (8-7), Gustavus went on a 7-1 run to go up 15-8. Despite the fact that Saint Ben’s brought the score within three points twice from that point on, Gustavus didn’t let the Blazers close the gap any further.
Gustavus was unable to carry the momentum into the third set and with the score tied 6-6, Saint Ben’s went on a 12-3 run that proved to be the difference.
Once again in the fourth, a mid-set scoring-run was enough to put the match in the books. With the scored knotted at 11-11, the Blazers used an 8-0 run to take control and go up 19-11. The Gusties couldn’t come up with an answer and the Blazers held on for the four-set victory.
As a team, Gustavus recorded 45 kills and hit at a rate of .152. Alyssa Taylor (Jr., Trimont, Minn.) paced Gustavus’s offense with 15 kills and a .400 attack percentage. Janessa Jahnke (So., Blue Earth, Minn.) finished next in line with 11 kills and a .182 attack percentage.
Saint Benedict’s Laura Schmitt led all offensive players with 16 kills (.220) to go along with a match-high 16 digs. Her teammates Sophie Stangl and Lexi Rinde finished with 10 kills each.
Running their respective offense was Blazer Taya Kockelman and Gustie Marisa Morgan (Fy., Rockford, Ill.). Kockelman distributed 45 assists, while Morgan shelled out 39.
Gustavus’s defense was led by Kendra Weege (Sr., Watertown, Minn.) who had 14 digs. Abby Leitch (Fy., Mankato, Minn.) also reached double-figures with 13 digs, while Haley Zweber (So., Rosemount, Minn.) and Paige Breneman (Sr., Sherburn, Minn.) both added nine.
The Gustavus volleyball team will kick off the final week of the regular season with a road match at Bethel University on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 7:00 p.m.