ST. PETER, Minn. – After nine non-league games to start the season, the Gustavus volleyball team opens Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at 7 p.m. tonight against No. 12-ranked Bethel University. The Gusties enter tonight’s match with a 7-2 overall record, while the Royals are 8-1. In the Sept. 13 AVCA Division III Poll, Bethel remained at the No. 12 spot, while the Gusties received votes but are four spots out of the top 25. Tonight’s game is a rematch of last season’s MIAC Championship game, which the Gusties won 3-1 to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Live coverage of tonight’s game begins at 6:50 p.m.
Last weekend the Gusties went 3-1 at the Loras College Tournament, defeating No. 13 Carthage, Wartburg, and Loras, while losing to Cornell. Nora Holtan (So., Rochester, Minn.) was the star last week as she finished with 203 assists (9.67 per set) and added 29 kills (.311 hitting percentage) and 35 digs in five matches. She had at least 31 assists in each match, including a career-high 52 assists in a five-set win over Carthage. For her performance, Holtan was named MIAC Volleyball Setter/Libero Player-of-the-Week.
Hanna Albers (So., St. Louis, Mo.) also had a big weekend, registering double-digit kills in all four games, including three double-doubles. Albers had monster games against Carthage and Wartburg, posting 20 kills and 21 digs, and 21 kills and 21 digs, respectively in those matches.
Bethel, who was picked as the No. 1 team in the MIAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll, is coming off a 3-1 weekend at the Pointer Invitational in Stevens Points, Wis. The Royals defeated Aurora, Ripon, and Saint Benedict, and lost to No. 15-ranked UW-Stevens Point. Bethel started the season 7-0 before losing to UW-Stevens Point.
After eight matches this season, Carlee Hoppe leads the team on the attack and the back line with 99 kills (3.00 per set) and 118 digs (3.58 per set). Katie Lubben is the team’s main setter with 216 assists (6.55 per set).