The Gustavus volleyball team went 0-2 on the opening day of the Wartburg College Tournament held Friday in Waverly, Iowa. The Gusties dropped their opening match to Simpson College by the score 3-2 before falling in their nightcap to Carthage College 3-1. Gustavus heads into day two of the tournament with an overall record of 7-13.
Despite showing a lot of guts in their first match of the tournament, the Gusties couldn’t find a way to battle back from down two sets against Simpson. The Storm took the first two sets by scores of 25-20 and 25-23 to grab an early 2-0 lead. The Gusties rebounded with a convincing 25-14 win in set three and a 26-24 win in set four to tie the match at 2-2. In the end, it was Simpson prevailing in the fifth and final set by the score of 16-14.
The Storm held a slight advantage over the Gusties in attack percentage by the end of the match, hitting .199 compared to Gustavus’ .191. Gustavus saw a balanced attack from Kelle Nett, Emily Phillips, and Becca Woodstra – all of whom finished with 11 kills.
The Black and Gold also had three players finish with double-digit digs. Paige Breneman led the way with 28 digs, while Shelby Nosan had 10, and Woodstra completed a double-double with 10 of her own. Kendra Weege distributed 38 assists, while Gustavus finished with 11 blocks in the match.
Gustavus vs. Simpson – Box Score
In Gustavus’ second match of the night, Carthage jumped out to the early lead by taking the first set 25-19. Gustavus tied the match at 1-1 by picking up a 25-23 win in set two. Catharge would go on to use a 25-19 win in set three and a 25-23 victory in set four two win the match and hand Gustavus it’s second loss of the night.
Gustavus hit just .081 compared to Carthage’s attack percentage of .212 in the match. Emily Phillips and Lauren Schlobohm led the Gustie offensive with 10 kills each, as Phillips finished with a team-high .292 attack rate.
Kendra Weege and Taylor Meurer shared setting duties in the match, as Weege led the way with 19 assists, while Meurer had 18. Paige Breneman led the team with 20 digs, while Brooke Phillips had 16, and Woodstra had 10 for the second match in a row.
Gustavus vs. Carthage – Box Score