ITHACA, N.Y. — The Gusties kicked off their season in convincing fashion, rolling to a 3-0 victory over SUNY-Geneseo in the first match of the Ithaca Bomber Invitational.
Gustavus dominated their first match of the season, cruising to wins of 25-17, 25-20, and 25-18 en route to the 3-0 sweep.
The Gusties and Knights exchanged points for the first half of the opening set, but once Gustavus caught the lead, they never took their foot off the accelerator. The Gusties built that lead by as many as 9 points — 20-11 — before settling for a 25-17 victory.
Set two started off in favor of the Knights, who took an early 6-2 lead. This lead wasn’t enough to hold off Coach Rachelle Sherden’s team, though, as the Gusties responded with six unanswered points — and they didn’t stop there. While the Knights made a late push in the second set, the Gusties sealed their victory by a score of 25-20.
The final set began once again in favor of the Knights, who held the lead through their first 10 points. Unfazed, Gustavus chipped away at the Knights’ advantage, pulling even at 10-10 and 11-11 before running a streak of eight unanswered points that would eventually complete the sweep with a score of 25-18.
“It was good to get the first match of the season under our belt and work out some of the first match nerves,” said Sherden about her team’s performance. “We started out slower than we wanted in each set but then rallied back with aggressive serving.”
Marlee Turn (Jr., Kennedy) led the Gusties’ offensive charge against Geneseo, collecting 13 kills, while Sarah Elliott (Sr., Lombard, Ill.) and Courtney Peterson (Sr., Jamestown, N.D.) each chipped in 10 and eight kills, respectively. Kasie Tweet (Jr., Adrian) and Nora Lehmkuhl (Sr., Northfield) accounted for 26 of the team’s 35 assists – Tweet dishing out 16 helpers and Lehmkuhl adding 10 — and Maren Sundberg (Fy., Eagan) delivered a team best 16 digs in her first collegiate match.
“At times it wasn’t pretty but we were glad we rallied and were able to close out the match in 3 sets. Tomorrow is going to be fun and we are looking forward to more good competition against Swarthmore and Ithaca.”
The Gusties will close out the weekend with two matches tomorrow. Gustavus will square off against Swarthmore College at 2:30 p.m. followed by a 5 p.m. match up against host Ithaca College.