Lauren Hanson extends on the attack. (Photo courtesy of St. Olaf)
NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The No. 11-ranked Gustavus volleyball team defeated St. Olaf College 3-0 at Skoglund Center Wednesday evening to earn its third consecutive Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sweep and improve its record to 16-3 overall and 5-1 during conference play.
“Today wasn’t perfect but it was a match that we just grinded, with a lot of long rallies” said Head Coach Rachelle Sherden.
Gustavus 3, St. Olaf 0: 25-22, 25-22, 26-24 (Box Score)
A collective effort led the Gustie attack against the Oles, with Hanna Albers (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) leading the way with nine kills and a .368 attack percentage. Kate Holtan (Fy., Rochester, Minn.) followed Albers with eight kills, while Lauren Hanson (Jr., Redwood Falls, Minn.) and Nora Holtan (Jr., Rochester, Minn.) each added seven. N. Holtan also guided the offense with 27 assists and Brittany Luethmers (Jr., Prior Lake, Minn.) led the defense with 15 digs.
“I thought Brittany did a great job on defense tonight and kept up in the game against their aggressive attackers. Our servers did a pretty good job getting St. Olaf out of system and preventing their middles from being as involved in their offense. It was a fun defensive match,” Sherden commented.
Despite the sweep, the Oles proved to be a challenge for the Gusties with three see-saw sets. Gustavus took an advantage near the midway mark of the first set, grabbing a 15-9 lead after an even start. The road team tallied 13 kills and forced eight Ole errors and held on to a lead for the rest of the set, taking a 1-0 lead.
The second set saw another back and forth start. The Gusties hit a match-best .303 with 14 kills and took control after a timeout, trailing 20-19. After the break, Gustavus rallied for five consecutive points to take a 24-20 lead and the eventual set victory.
St. Olaf didn’t let the Gusties take the final set easily, forcing three lead changes to start the match before the score was set at 15-15. From there, Gustavus maintained an 11-9 lead to take the final set at 26-24.
Next up, the Black and Gold will head to Waverly, Iowa Friday-Saturday for a non-conference tournament at Wartburg College. The Gusties are set to face Wisconsin-La Crosse, Wartburg, and Luther College.