Gustavus vs. UW-Oshkosh Box Score | Gustavus vs. UW-Eau Claire Box Score
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – The Gustavus volleyball team faced a pair of nationally ranked opponents Friday to open the Sandy Schumacher Tournament hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and came away with a split to move to 16-5 overall. The Gusties lost in five sets to No. 21-ranked UW-Oshkosh and rebounded with a five-set victory over No. 22-ranked UW-Eau Claire.
“I was really proud of the way we came out strong in the first match, but Oshkosh put up a big block and we had too many unforced errors in the last couple sets,” Head Coach Rachelle Sherden said.
Gustavus lost a heartbreaker to open the tourney after claiming the first two sets of the match 25-22, 25-20. UW-Oshkosh came all the way back, though, claiming the final three sets 25-21, 25-16, 15-8 to steal the match.
Hanna Albers (So., St. Louis, Mo.) led the Gustie offense with 14 kills, while adding 13 digs for a double-double. Nora Holtan (So., Rochester, Minn.) distributed 32 assists, and Brittany Luethmers (So., Prior Lake, Minn.) dug out 22 attacks.
In a rematch of last season’s NCAA Championships opening round, the Gusties got retribution with a 23-25, 25-15, 25-17, 23-25, 15-13 victory. Lauren Hanson (So., Redwood Falls, Minn.) paced the attack with 18 kills and a .275 hitting percentage. Holtan added 46 assists and five Gusties reached double figure digs led by Luethmers with 23. Albers contributed 13 kills and 21 digs for her team-leading 12th double-double of the season. Play-by-play was unavailable for both matches.
“The Eau Claire match was a lot fun,” Sherden said. “I thought we played consistent and purposeful until the last point. Our blocking and defense was relentless. Our team was down 11-13 in the fifth and we rallied to get the next four points with Taylor Trautman’s (Sr., Hutchinson, Minn.) kill to seal the victory. We never gave up and we’re hungry for more great competition tomorrow.”
Gustavus wraps up the tournament tomorrow with a 10 a.m. match against UM-Morris and a match at noon against Northwestern-St. Paul.