Marisa Morgan ran the offense and finished with 42 set assists in Friday night’s loss to Hamline.
St. Paul – The Gustavus Adolphus suffered a five set setback at the hands of Hamline University on Friday night in St. Paul. Despite winning the opening two sets, the Gusties couldn’t keep a surging Hamline squad from coming back with three straight sets and the resulting 3-2 win. Gustavus drops to 7-10 overall and 2-2 in the MIAC, while Hamline improves to 11-3 overall and 3-1 in the MIAC.
The Gusties got off to a blistering start, going up 17-3 and eventually winning the opening frame handily by the score of 25-11.
The second set proved to be much tighter of a segment. Although Gustavus grabbed an early 8-3 advantage, Hamline came back to eventually tie the set and take the lead up 17-16. From that point on, the two teams went back-and-forth with neither club being able go up by more than one point. With the score tied at 20-20, a kill by Alyssa Taylor (Jr., Trimont, Minn.) proved to be the last lead change of the set. Up 24-23 with Marisa Morgan (Fy., Rockford, Ill.) on serve, Becca Woodstra (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn.) provided the set-clinching kill that gave Gustavus a 2-0 advantage in the match.
Alyssa Taylor and Becca Woodstra led Gustavus’s offensive with 16 kills each over the course of the night. Taylor made just two errors and posted an attack percentage of .438, while Woodstra added four digs and hit .200.
Gustavus looked as if it was going to cruise to a three-set victory up 19-16 and later 20-18. It was at that point that the Pipers turned the tide. They scored four straight points before the Gusties could stop the bleeding down 22-21. By that time, momentum had shifted. Hamline scored three of the next four points to win the set 25-22 and cut the match score to 2-1.
Hamline fed off the momentum and went on to grab a 16-11 early in the fourth. Trailing 22-18, Gustavus clawed its way back in to the set with a four of the next five points to cut the lead to 23-22. It was all the Gusties could muster, however, as Hamline put the set in the books (25-22) and send the match into a decisive fifth set.
The Gusties came out firing in the fifth, grabbing an early 7-3 lead. Hamline wouldn’t go away quietly and rattled off five straight points to tie the score at 7-7. With the final frame knotted at 8-8, Hamline scored four unanswered to go up 12-8. The Gusties were unable to cut the margin to less than two points from there on out, and the Pipers secured the five-set win with a 15-11 victory in the fifth.
Along with Taylor and Woodstra, Taylor Trautman (So., Hutchinson, Minn.) also reached double-digits with 11 kills and a .292 attack percentage. Hamline’s front row was led by Michelle Matke with 12 kills, Jena Meyer with 11, and Katie Ayres with 11.
Marisa Morgan was in charge of operating Gustavus’s offense throughout the evening. Morgan shelled out a match-high 42 set assists, eclipsing the 40-mark for the fist time since Sept. 20. Vassi Prattas and Amelia Jensen split setting duties for Hamline, ending up with 23 and 22, respectively.
Abby Leitch (Fy., Mankato, Minn.) led Gustavus’s back row effort with a match high 21 digs. Hamline boasted three players with double-digit digs including Lynsey Reimer (21), Miquel Green (17), and Michelle Mattke (11).
The Gustavus volleyball team is next scheduled to be on the court Wednesday, Oct. 8 with a home match against St. Olaf College beginning at 7:00 p.m. The contest will serve as the team’s annual Dig Pink Match designed to raise awareness for breast cancer.