On the first day of Fall Break at the College of St. Catherine, the Wildcats traveled to Hamline University for their final road game of the year and suffered one of their most lopsided losses of the season 3-0 (23-25, 14-25, 16-25).

The Pipers celebrated senior night before the match, and it was their seniors who helped them start strong and never look back.

In set one Hamline led 10-2 before the Wildcats were able to mount any kind of challenge. The Wildcats rallied to make it 14-13, and went toe-to-toe with Hamline the rest of the way. Unfortunately, they were not able to completley surmount their early defecit and fell 25-23.

The strong finish in set one was reason to believe that the rest of the night would be the tightly contested game everyone expected. But, as sometimes happens in sports, what you expect and what you get are polar opposites.

Set two was tied 4-4 but from that point on St. Kate's could do no right, and Hamline could do no wrong. The Pipers quickly extended their lead to 19-5 before coasting to a 25-14 victory.

In set three St. Kate's trailed 7-2 early. They closed it to 14-10 before another Piper run made it 19-10. From there the teams exchanged points and Hamline secured the 25-16 win.

After hitting .097 for the game, and not having anyone reach double figures in kills or digs, the Wildcats left the court knowing this was just one of those nights in sports that you don't dwell on. You put it out of your mind and look to the next game.

Fortunately for the Wildcats that next game is back in the Butler Center. After playing 11 of their last 12 games on the road, St. Kate's will look to close their season on a strong note in front of their home crowd. Next up St. Kate's will host Augsburg on Wednesday October 29 as part of their "Dig Pink" night.

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