The Gustavus volleyball team became the first program in MIAC to eclipse the 750 win mark with a 3-1 victory over Macalester Wednesday night in St. Peter. Meghan Gehring (So., Eau Claire, Wisc.) and Andrea Kron (Sr., Cold Spring, Minn.) led the Golden Gusties with 15 kills apiece. The win kept Gustavus’ MIAC playoff hopes alive, as the team remains tied with Hamline for the final playoff spot. Gustavus will square off against St. Mary’s Saturday, while the Pipers will take on Macalester.
Every game was close in the early stages before either squad was able to put together a scoring rally to stay ahead for good. Gustavus won game one 30-22 despite being outhit .216 to .116. The difference, though, was how Macalester struggled to handle the Gustie serves. Jen Thelemann (Sr., Le Sueur, Minn.) helped the cause as six of her 14 kills came in the first game.
After being tied 11-11 in game two, the Scots went on a 5-0 run with kills from Majra Mucic, Erin Cusac, and Marie Godwin to take a permanent lead in the set. Macalester was aided by 18 kills and two service aces on their way to a 30-23 win.
Gustavus went on a 6-2 run in the late stages of game three when Macalester committed a string of five hitting errors. This was enough breathing room for the Gusties to close out the set 30-26.
In a match filled with errors, game five provided the highest quality volleyball as the set was decided on execution. The last nine points of the match were finished with kills from both sides of the court. However, five of those kills were in favor of Gustavus as Coach Eckheart’s squad won 31-29.
Thelemann joined Kron and Gehring as the only Gusties to reach double-digit kills. However, Britta Bolm (Jr., Alexandria, Minn.) finished the match with 10 blocks and Bridget Burtzel (Jr., Cold Spring, Minn.) contributed 46 assists in the winning effort.
Gustavus improves to 17-8 overall and 5-5 in the MIAC, and 750-528-11 in the program’s history. Macalester drops to 3-20 overall and 0-10 in the MIAC. Gustavus will host St. Mary’s Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm in the season finale at St. Peter.