ST. PAUL, MINN. – Last weekend could not have gone better for the St. Catherine University volleyball team. The Wildcats went 4-0 in their home tournament, the St. Kate’s Invite, to open the season with a 6-2 record for the second time in three years. A huge part of St. Kate’s weekend success was none other than Shanee Herd (Alexandria, Minn. / Jefferson) who helped the Wildcats go undefeated at home with fantastic defense and an outstanding service game. For her performance, Herd has been named Wildcat Athlete of the Week.
Herd’s fantastic weekend began in St. Kate’s opening match against Marian University Friday afternoon. The senior served a career high 10 aces in the 3-1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-12, 25-18) victory and helped the Wildcats set a school record for aces in a single match (17). She also led the team with 22 digs in the four set effort.
Herd was also instrumental in the Wildcats second match of the evening, a 3-2 (10-25, 25-17, 25-20, 20-25, 15-13) upset of Nebraska Wesleyan. She racked up 23 digs in the five set effort, bringing her day one total to 45, and her tough serving kept the Prairie Wolves offense off balance throughout the match. Herd also made several clutch plays in the deciding fifth set to help St. Kate’s overcome a 6-1 deficit to win the set by a score of 15-13.
The senior libero was just as spectacular on the second day of competition, with 27 digs in a 3-1 (25-16, 25-18, 22-25, 25-19) win over Central and 20 in a 3-0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-11) sweep of Crown.
Overall, Herd recorded 92 digs in four matches over the weekend, bringing her season total to 174. Herd is third in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) and leads the conference in digs per set (6.00).
St. Kate’s and Herd will return to the court on Wednesday, when the team opens MIAC play against Saint Mary’s University. The match will begin at 7 p.m. at the Butler Center Gym in St. Paul, Minnesota.
