The St. Kate's volleyball team traveled to St. Peter and quickly downed the host Gusties 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-19). With the win the Wildcats improve to 3-2 in MIAC play and 13-7 overall.
The Wildcats and Gusties opened the game with a back-and-forth first set. The largest lead either team could muster was when Gustavus rattled off seven of nine points to take a 16-11 lead. After a timeout the Wildcats rallied right back and tied the game 20-20. From there a few timely kills by Megan Ahlbrecht and Brittni Wangerin gave St. Kate's a narrow lead that they did not relinquish.
The first set battle proved to be the anomaly of the night as the Wildcats controlled the tempo of play the rest of the night. In set two St. Kate's built an 18-9 lead and cruised to a 25-19 win.
The final score in set three was identical to set two (25-19), but the path to victory was very different. The Wildcats had to overcome a 12-9 deficit to wrap up the game in three sets. With the score tied 14-14, St. Kate's notched five of the next six points and 11 of the game's final 16 points to pick up the victory.
Statistically, Maria Hoffman led the Wildcats with 15 kills. Nina Lindquist added 39 set assists. Nicole Neumann had 23 digs and Nicole Pothen added 16 digs.
The win is also a new milestone for Coach Nicole Hess, as three conference wins are the most in a season during her tenure with the Wildcats.
St. Kate's returns to action on Saturday October 10, at Bethel University at 3:00 pm.
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