St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus volleyball team concluded its 2013 season with a win and a loss at the Gustie Triangular held on Saturday afternoon on Gus Young Court. The Gusties kicked off the day with a 3-2 victory over Buena Vista University before falling to 3-0 to UW-Superior later in their season-finale. Gustavus completes its 2013 campaign with an overall record of 11-20.
Gustavus vs. Buena Vista Recap
In their morning match of the triangular against Buena Vista, the Gusties earned a hard-fought 3-2 victory after taking the fifth and decisive set by the score of 15-12. Gustavus won the opening set 25-22, and Buena Vista bounced back with a 25-21 win in the second. The squads traded sets once again with Buena Vista winning the third 25-19, and Gustavus taking the fourth 25-20.
In the final set, Gustavus trailed early but was able to battle back with a pair of key runs. The Gusties used a 6-0 run to take a 10-9 lead. The Black and Gold then won five of the last six points to come away with the three-point edge in the frame.
Gustavus had a good morning at the net and posted double-digit kills in each of the first four sets. The Gusties finished with their second-best kill total of the season with 64 and hit at a rate of .195, which was their third-best attack percentage in the past 13 matches.
Alyssa Taylor (Jr., Trimont, Minn.) continued her late-season hitting surge with her best offensive performance of the season. Taylor was called on a season-high 52 times and finished with a season-best 23 kills to go along with a .327 attack percentage. It was the third time this season that she tallied 20 more kills and 11th time this year she posted an attack percentage above the .300 mark.
Kelle Nett (So., Spring Valley, Ill.) also reached double figure kills with 16 and finished with an attack rate of .353.
Rachel Arnold (So., Lake City, Minn.) once again ran an efficient offense in just her third match as the full-time setter. Arnold finished with 47 assists and turned in her third straight double-double with 10 digs to boot.
Defensively, Gustavus had its best outing of the year with a season-high team-total of 103 digs on the morning. The performance bested a 101 dig outing in a five set match against UW-Eau Claire on Oct. 12.
Paige Breneman (Jr., Sherburn, Minn.) led the way with her top showing of the season. Breneman dug out more than 30 attacks for the second time this year, finishing with a season-best 38 to lead all players in the match.
Becca Woodstra (So., Minnetonka, Minn.) finished next in line with 18 digs, Kendra Weege (Jr., Watertown, Minn.) had 13, and Haley Zweber (Fy., Rosemount, Minn.) recorded 12.
Gustavus vs. UW-Superior Recap
In the final match of the day, UW-Superior built an early lead and didn’t look back for three straight frames. The Gusties could not close the deficit down the stretch and suffered a sweep by set scores of 25-21, 25-23, and 25-20.
Alyssa Taylor and Kelle Nett paced the offense once again, combining for 16 kills after they each hit the floor with eight. Taylor hit at a rate of .167, while Nett hit .238.
Rachel Arnold and Kendra Weege did the setting in the finale. Arnold distributed 17 assists, and Weege dished out 10.
Paige Breneman tallied a team-best 18 digs to reach double-figures for the seventh straight match.
Gustavus finished with 33 kills and a hitting percentage of .085, while UW-Superior had 35 kills and hit at rate of .142. The Yellowjacket offense was led by Jessica Zimmerman who recorded a match-high 10 kills.