Article courtesy of Matt Higgins, MIAC Assistant Executive Director
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Gustavus volleyball team put a fitting exclamation point on a remarkable regular season last week with wins over Hamline and Saint Mary’s to complete an undefeated (11-0) run to the conference title and extend its school-record winning streak to 25-straight victories. Junior middle hitter Taylor Trautman (Hutchinson, Minn.) starred for the Gusties last week, as she racked up 26 kills with a .489 hitting percentage in the two wins to go along with 22 digs, three aces and four blocks. For her performance, the MIAC sports information directors honored Trautman Monday with the MIAC Volleyball Hitter-of-the-Week award.
Trautman’s big week started with 18 kills and 10 digs with a .484 hitting percentage in a 3-1 win over Hamline to help her team clinch the conference title outright. Then, for good measure, Gustavus swept Saint Mary’s 3-0 Saturday, with Trautman contributing 12 digs and eight kills with a .500 hitting percentage, as well as two aces and two blocks. This season Trautman has 226 kills (2.43 per set) with a .222 hitting percentage. She also has 175 digs, 42 blocks and 25 aces, and her 120 kills in conference play rank eighth in the MIAC.
Thanks to last week’s two wins, Gustavus completed its remarkable 25-2 regular season and perfect 11-0 trip through the MIAC with its school-record 25-match winning streak still intact. As a result, the Gusties are the top seed and will enjoy home-court advantage throughout this week’s 2015 MIAC Volleyball Playoffs. Gustavus received a bye to Thursday’s semifinal round, where it will host the winner of No. 4 Saint Mary’s and No. 5 Concordia in St. Peter, Minn. at 7 p.m. with a trip to Saturday’s championship match on the line.