ITHACA, N.Y. — Tight scores were a theme in the Gusties’ Saturday matchups against Swarthmore and Ithaca.
After all, four of the Gusties’ sets were decided by a margin of three points or less. The Gusties started the day with a 3-1 win over Swarthmore, followed by a 3-0 sweep over host Ithaca College.
SWARTHMORE BOX SCORE | ITHACA BOX SCORE
Gustavus opened with back-to-back set wins over Swarthmore, 26-24 and 25-22, before dropping the third set, 25-23. The Gusties completed the win with a convincing 25-12 victory in the fourth set.
The Gusties saw more of the same action against Ithaca, coming from behind to win the opening set — by a margin of two points — 25-23. The next two sets fell in favor of the Gusties, by scores of 25-21 and 25-18.
The tandem of Sarah Elliott (Sr., Lombard, Ill.) and Marlee Turn (Jr., Kennedy) led the Gusties’ offensive charge against Swarthmore, hammering out 14 and 13 kills respectively. Kasie Tweet (Jr., Adrian) built off her Friday night momentum adding 34 of the team’s 44 assists, while Maren Sundberg (Fy., Eagan) tallied a team-best 13 digs.
“Our defense played really scrappy, with solid passing, we were really able to utilize our entire offense and mix it up a lot to keep the opponent defense guessing,” said Coach Rachelle Sherden. “We had some serving runs to get us back in if we were behind or build a lead at crucial points in the match.”
Turn would lead the charge once again for the Gusties in their 3-0 sweep of Ithaca, recording 11 kills, just one better than teammate Sarah Elliott. Kasie Tweet delivered 28 assists and Sundberg chipped in a team and personal-best 19 digs.
“Overall, it was a good start to 2022 with good things to keep building from and plenty of areas of growth. Looking forward to another very competitive tournament next weekend at Augsburg.”
The Gusties (3-0 overall) return to the court next weekend, squaring off against Pacific Lutheran (2:30 p.m.) and UW-La Crosse (5 p.m.) on Sept. 9 as a part of the Augsburg Invitational.