Jami Moseng drives a shot past the St. Thomas front row.
Emily Klein records one of her 20 digs in the match.
Sadie Ward splits the St. Thomas block.
Andrea Kron puts down one of her 16 kills.
The Gustavus volleyball team battled #16 St. Thomas through four games on Wednesday night in St. Peter, but came up on the short end of a 3-1 score. The Tommies siezed a 2-0 lead before the Gusties rallied to win game three. The Tommies clinched the match with a 30-27 win in game four.
The first game of the match was very competitive with ties at 9, 24, and 29. With the match tied at 29-29, the Gusties committed back-to-back attack errors allowing the Tommies to escape with a 31-29 victory.
With the score tied 10-10 in the second game, St. Thomas used a 7-2 run to take a 17-12 lead that they would never relinquish. The Gusties rallied to within three points at 27-24, but kills by Kristin Storrs, Ann Eibensteiner, and Rachelle Dosch gave the Tommies a 30-25 victory.
The Tommies started strong in the third game, and held a five point lead at 13-8. The Gusties came charging back and tied the match at 15-15. The Gusties held a slim 22-20 lead when three straight kills by Becca Thompson extended the Gustavus lead to 25-20. The Tommies would again close to within three at 27-24, but the Gusties held on for the 30-26 victory.
St. Thomas scored the first point of the fourth game, but Gustavus countered with a 5-0 run to take a 5-1 lead. The see-saw battle continued with St. Thomas holding the biggest lead at 21-16. Gustavus rallied to tie the score at 27, however Erika Wetzel and Rachelle Dosch recorded kills to extend the St. Thomas lead to 29-27. The Tommies clinched the match on a Gustie attack error making the final score 30-27.
The Tommies were led by senior Erika Wetzel with 23 kills and a .276 attack percentage, and junior Rachelle Dosch with 23 digs and eight block assists. The Gusties were led by junior Becca Thompson with 17 kills and a .343 attack percentage, and Bridget Burtzel with 28 set assists and 15 digs. St. Thomas improves their record to 8-0 in the MIAC and 20-4 overall, and now leads the all-time series against the Gusties 24-16-1. Gustavus falls to 3-5 in the MIAC, and 12-10 overall.
The Gusties will travel to Moorhead to play Concordia on Friday at 7 p.m. St. Thomas will return home to play UW-River Falls on Friday at 7 p.m.