The Gustavus Volleyball team lost a tightly contested match to the College of St. Scholastica by a score of 1-3 (25-22, 22-25, 20-25, 22-25) on the first night of the Gustavus Classic, which was played in the Lund Center in St. Peter, Minn. The Gusties got off to a slow start, but battled back to take the first set before St. Scholastica rallied to win the final three sets and claim the match.
“We just never put it all together tonight,” said Gustavus head coach Rachelle Dosch. “Give credit to St. Scholastica. They brought their ‘A’ game. Their defense was impressive.”
The Gusties scored six unanswered points late in the first set to turn a four-point deficit into a two-point lead. Gustavus held on to take the first set 25-22.
Late in the second set, the Gusties rallied to tie the score at 20-20 before the Saints took five of the final seven points to win the set 25-22. The third set mirrored that result, with St. Scholastica pulling away 25-20 on the strength of five straight points to close out the set.
Both teams put on a show in what proved to be the final set of the match, with the Gusties and Saints tying the score on seven different occasions. St. Scholastica continued its trend of strong finishes by taking four of the final five points to win the set 25-22 and hand Gustavus its second loss of the season.
“We finished strong in the fourth set, but it was just too little, too late,” said Dosch. “We have to put this behind us and focus on our two matches tomorrow.”
On the attack, Emily Phillips led Gustavus with 17 kills, while Janey Helland and Angela Ahrendt also finished in double-digits at 15 and 12 kills, respectively. On defense, Jenny Ewert led the way with 22 digs. The Gusties also got a boost from first year middle/outside hitter Dana Boerboom, who contributed nine kills.
“I was really proud of how Dana stepped up for us tonight,” said Dosch. “We were without Olivia Warren due to illness, and Dana came through with a strong effort.”
With the loss to St. Scholastica, Gustavus is now 3-2 on the season. The Gusties will conclude the tournament with a pair of matches tomorrow against Martin Luther College at 10 am and UW-River Falls at 2 pm.