ST. PAUL, Minn. – Kate Holtan (Jr., Rochester) recorded 25 kills on Saturday, the most by a Gustavus volleyball player since 2003, as the Gusties took down Hamline 3-1. With the win the Gusties improve to 10-8 overall and 3-1 in the MIAC while the Pipers fall to 11-6 overall and 2-2 in the conference.
“It was a tooth and nail scrappy match,” said Head Coach Rachelle Sherden. “There were a lot of long rallies and our setters did a good job spreading the offense, our middles stepped up, and Kate was on a mission. In the second set our blockers made it tough on them and our servers got more strategic and aggressive, which created some long point runs for us.”
In the first set Gustavus jumped out to an early 9-4 lead but the Pipers responded, going on a 12-3 run to go up 16-12. The Gusties came back and eventually took a 24-22 lead but the Pipers responded. They even things at 24 and then the two teams went back and forth until, tied at 31, Hamline got two straight kills to end the set.
In set two the Gusties would take an 8-7 lead and never look back as they led the rest of the set, holding off a late Hamline run to win 25-23. In the third set the Gusties dominated from the outset, winning 25-12.
The Gusties carried their momentum into set number four, jumping out to an early 5-1 lead to take control. After Hamline was able to bring the score to 10-8, the Gusties scored to push their lead to three, and extended on it, leading by no less than three the rest of the set as they won the game 25-21 and the match 3-1.
The 25-kill effort by Holtan is the most by a Gustie since Jessica Schaetzke when she had 32 against Carleton on Oct. 10, 2003 in a five-set loss to the Knights.
Sarah Elliott (Fy., Lombard, Ill.) added nine kills for the Gusties while Annalee Olson-Sola (So., Northfield) and Sydney Olson (Fy., Willmar) each had eight. Kaylyn Johnston (Fy., Urbana, Ill.) had 31 assists and Mitaya Johnson (Sr., Kasson) had 22, while both players had double-digit digs for a double-double. Hailey Embacher (Jr., Mankato) anchored the back row with 30 digs, while Holtan added 14 for a double-double.
“It was a good match overall,” said Sherden. “I thought our team worked really hard in practice this week and it showed in two very tough conference matches.”
The Gusties will next be in action Wednesday when they host St. Thomas at 7 p.m.