Volleyball Blanks St. Kate’s, Luethmers Eclipses 2,000 Career Digs

BOX SCORE

SAINT PAUL, Minn. – The No. 11 Gustavus volleyball team claimed its fourth consecutive straight-set MIAC victory Saturday at St. Catherine. The Gusties won by scores of 25-15, 25-19, and 25-16 to improve to 14-2 overall and 5-0 in the MIAC.

“We had a bit of a slow start in the first two sets but they chipped away and were able to battle back,” Head Coach Rachelle Sherden said. “There were a lot of long and scrappy rallies from both sides at today’s match.”

In the third set, Brittany Luethmers (Sr., Prior Lake, Minn.) recorded her 13th dig of the match which put her at 2,000 career digs. Luethmers becomes the second Gustavus volleyball player to reach the 2,000-dig career mark and only trails record holder Emily Klein ’09 at 2,329. Luethmers finished the match with a team-high 17 digs.

“Britt achieving 2,000 digs is a major accomplishment,” Sherden said. “Over the last three and a half years she has been a rock for the Gusties in the back row. She is a defensive leader and often keeps our team alive with her scrappy and relentless digging.”

For the second-straight match, the Gusties held their opponent to a negative hitting percentage as the Wildcats attacked at a -.016 rate. Kate Holtan (So., Rochester, Minn.) led the Gustavus attack with 11 kills and a .346 hitting percentage. Nora Holtan (Sr., Rochester, Minn.) tallied 26 assists and seven kills with a .333 attack rate.

Gustavus next hosts St. Olaf at 7 p.m. Thursday.