Kendra Weege had seven digs in Gustavus’s 3-0 loss to St. Thomas on Saturday night.
St. Paul – The Gustavus Adolphus volleyball team suffered a 3-0 loss at the hands of the University of St. Thomas on Saturday night at Schoenecker Arena. The Tommies earned the sweep with set wins of 25-14, 25-21, and 25-23. Gustavus moves to 6-8 overall and 1-1 in the MIAC, while St. Thomas improves to 11-1 overall and 2-0 in the MIAC.
St. Thomas displayed the importance of momentum in its opening set win. After Gustavus brought the score to within one point (15-14) on a Nicole Potts attack error, the Tommies rattled off ten straight points to take the frame 25-14..
In the second set, Gustavus grabbed an 8-4 lead on a kill by Sarah Schuetz. The Gusties held on to a four point edge before the Tommies went on a 6-1 scoring run to knot the set at 12-12. From there, Gustavus scored four of the next five points to go up 16-13. It was at that point that St. Thomas made a move and began to turn the tide. Following an 8-1 swing, the Tommies were up 21-17. The home team then scored three of the next four points (24-18) before putting the set in the books with a Sara Atkinson kill.
The two teams went back-and-forth for much of the third set. With Gustavus on top 19-17, the Tommies shifted the momentum to their bench with a four-point swing that put them up 21-19. The Gusties couldn’t find a way over the hump after St. Thomas’s late scoring run. Gustavus brought the score to within one point on four occasions yet couldn’t find a way to close the gap.
Gustavus’s offense was led by Alyssa Taylor (Jr., Trimont, Minn.) and Kelle Nett (So., Spring Valley, Ill.) who both posted seven kills.
Paige Breneman (Jr., Sherburn, Minn.) and Kendra Weege (Jr., Watertown, Minn.) each had seven digs to lead the team. Taylor Meurer (Jr., Nicollet, Minn.) was the setter for Gustavus, turning in 23 assists.
Tommie hitters Sara Atkinson and Kelly Foley were too much to handle on Saturday night as the pair combined for 23 of the squad’s 47 kills. St. Thomas posted a team attack percentage of .282 compared to Gustavus team mark of .098.
The Gustavus Adolphus volleyball team will be back in action on Wednesday, Sept. 25 with an MIAC match against Hamline University at 7:00 p.m. in St. Peter.