DUBUQUE, Iowa – The No. 9-ranked Gustavus volleyball team started the Loras Invitational with a pair of wins Friday. The Gusties dropped only the second frame against Dominican and rallied to win in four sets, followed by a shutout victory over Dubuque, improving to 5-1 overall. With 20 kills on the day, Lauren Hanson (Sr., Redwood Falls, Minn.) became the 14th member of Gustavus’s 1,000-kill club.
“One thousand kills is a great achievement,” Head Coach Rachelle Sherden said. “Lo has really taken ownership of the right side role which she has only played for the last year and a half. She continues to grow each match as a dynamic and go-to attacker for our team. She played very smart and aggressive today. Both teams had a hard time stopping her.”
Gustavus 3, Dominican 1 | BOX SCORE
After trailing 6-1 in the first set, Gustavus responded with eight unanswered points and never let go of the lead for a 25-19 win. The second set started similar with a 7-2 Stars advantage, but this time the Gusties were not able overcome the deficit. They did score eight-straight points to cut the lead to one, but Dominican kept the Gusties at bay and claimed a 25-23 win.
After a back-and-fourth start to the third frame, the Gusties went on an 8-2 run midway through and finished with a 25-21 win. A tightly-contested fourth set resulted in the scoring difference to not exceed four points in the waning moments of the match before the Gusties closed out a deciding 25-23 victory.
Four Gusties reached double figure kills, led by Kate Holtan’s (So., Rochester, Minn.) 12. Nora Holtan (Sr., Rochester, Minn.) recorded her seventh career triple-double with 11 kills, 43 assists, and 14 digs. Hanson and Hanna Albers (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) each posted 10 kills. Brittany Luethmers (Sr., Prior Lake, Minn.) led the defense with 26 digs.
Gustavus 3, Dubuque 0 | BOX SCORE
Gustavus finished day one at the Loras Invite with relative ease, winning straight sets 25-15, 25-20, 25-19. The Gusties trailed for only two volleys in the entire match.
Hanson paced the attack with 10 kills for the second-straight match. Nora Holtan finished with 32 assists and 11 digs. Luethmers and Kate Holtan led the back line with 20 digs apiece – a career-high for Holtan.
“I thought the first match it took a while to get into our groove but we still came through with effective serving in the end and being dynamic on offense,” Sherden said. “The second match we controlled the match with super aggressive serving, scrappy defense, and very consistent passing. Nora did a good job of getting our middles involved offensively and they hit very efficiently.”
The Gusties close out the Loras Invite tomorrow at 9 and 11 a.m. against Northwestern-St. Paul and Loras, respectively.