The Gusties celebrate a point. (Photo courtesy of Alex Nadeau, SPX Sports)
ST. PETER, Minn. – The No. 10-ranked Gustavus volleyball team swept Carleton College in the home opener on Wednesday evening at Gus Young Court, improving its overall record to 13-1 and 2-0 during Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.
The Gusties limited the Knights to 21 kills and a .075 attack percentage, while totaling 50 kills and hitting .164 en route to their 11th sweep of the season.
“The crowd was awesome and there was a lot of good energy in the gym,” Head Coach Rachelle Sherden commented on the home-opening atmosphere. “It feels like a long time since we’ve been back here, so it was fun to open up back on home court.”
Kate Holtan (Fy., Rochester, Minn.), Nora Holtan (Jr., Rochester, Minn.), and Lauren Hanson (Jr., Redwood Falls, Minn.) led the Black and Gold attack. K. Holtan led the home team with 12 kills, followed by 11 from N. Holtan and Hanson. N. Holtan also hit .318 while tallying 29 assists and 12 digs to record a season-high kill total and her first triple-double of 2017.
Four Gusties compiled double-digit dig totals, led by 16 from Brittany Luethmers (Jr., Prior Lake, Minn.).
“We were a little more inconsistent than we have been today, it seemed like we were a little bit slow out of the gate. But there were moments of good things happening. Nora did a good job at the net and spreading the offense, so I was pretty happy with that,” Sherden said.
Gustavus 3, Carleton 0: 25-17, 25-21, 25-20 (Box Score)
Gustavus got off to a hot start in the first set, recording a match-best .311 attack percentage with 19 kills on 45 attempts. Jumping out to a 12-6 lead, the Gusties held the Knights within six points for the rest of the set and eventually gained a double-digit lead to take a 1-0 lead.
Carleton forced some push back in the second set, earning the first three points and setting the score at 9-9 early on. The teams went back and forth as the Gusties added four-straight points before five consecutive from the Knights as the score was knotted again, at 17-17. Gustavus then closed out the set on an 8-4 run to go up 2-0.
Similar to set two, the Gusties and the Knights went back and forth at the start as Gustavus was plagued by errors. With the score tied at 10-10, the Black and Gold went on a couple runs to take a 19-12 lead and held on for the rest of the set despite a tough battle from Carleton.
“We have been focusing a lot this week on some intangible stuff on the floor and how we’re connecting as a team. We also talk about how we “love tough” and play our game, not to our opponent,” Sherden commented.
Next up, the Gusties continue conference action with a matchup at Bethel University on Friday evening prior to hosting the No. 12-ranked Northwestern St. Paul on homecoming Saturday.