St. Paul – The Gustavus volleyball team was able to grind out a 3-2 victory over Hamline on Wednesday night at Hutton Arena. The win snaps a seven-match losing-skid for the Gusties and gives them momentum heading into a three-match homestand next week. Gustavus is improves to 8-15 overall and 2-5 in the MIAC, while Hamline is now 14-8 overall and 0-7 in the MIAC.
Head Coach Rachelle Dosch’s club turned around what was a very gloomy trend in tonight’s five-set victory over the Pipers. Entering tonight’s match, Gustavus held a record of 0-14 when losing the first set. Despite dropping the opening frame 25-23, the Black and Gold bounced back with a 25-20 win in set two, a 25-22 win in set four, and a 15-13 win in the fifth and deciding set.
Gustavus hit over .200 in the fourth and fifth sets, finishing the match with a team attack percentage of .131. Hamline hit .178 as a team.
The Gustie offense was led by the breakout performance of first-year hitter Lauren Schlobohm (Faribault, Minn.). Schlobohm became the first Gustavus player reach the 20-kill mark in a match this season. She finished with 20 kills and an impressive attack percentage of .368.
Joining Schlobohm with double-figure kills was Becca Woodstra (Fy., Minnetonka, Minn.) with 12 of her own. Woodstra completed a double-double, her fifth of the season, by also tallying 10 digs.
Leading the defense with her most impressive performance of the season was Paige Breneman (So., Sherburn, Minn.), who tallied a match-high 33 digs, her highest total of the season. Erin Sherman (Sr., Golden Valley, Minn.) finished with 12 digs, while Shelby Nosan (So., Baudette, Minn.) rounded out Gustauvs’ balanced back row with 11 digs.
Taylor Meurer (So., Nicollet, Minn.) also broke out with one of her best setting performances of the year. Meurer dished out 36 assists, her second-highest total of the season.
The Gustavus volleyball team will begin its three-match homestand on Tuesday, Oct. 16 against Northwestern College at 7:00 p.m. on Gus Young Court.