Box Score

All season the St. Catherine University volleyball team has shown that they have all the pieces to be successful and win big matches when it counts.
 
 In their second Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) match against a strong Saint Mary's team, the Wildcats put their best foot forward but it just wasn't enough as they fell 3-2 in a five-set marathon in Winona on Wednesday.
 
“(The match was) the definition of an epic battle,” said Head Coach Corey Phelps. “We took a little too long to figure (Saint Mary's) out offensively, but played with them through the first two sets.
 
“We took another big step forward fighting this hard on the road,” said Phelps.
 
After giving up the first two sets to the Cardinals by scores of 25-19 and 25-23, it appeared the mistakes the Wildcats have been making all season attacking were haunting them early. However, the Wildcats fought back to take the third set 25-21 after leading the Cardinals by as much as eight points in the set.
 
The Wildcats held strong and appeared to be in control of the fourth, leading 15-10 at one point, but they found themselves facing match point at 24-22. The Wildcats used huge points from Marie O'Neil (St. Michael, Minn.) and Brittni Wangerin (Prior Lake, Minn.) to come back and take down the Cardinals 26-24.  
 
The Wildcats entered their second-straight fifth set match and appeared as though they might be able to take down Saint Mary's, forcing the set to 14-14 after being down by four points at 11-15. They fell just short and Saint Mary's took the final set 16-14.
 
The strong play of Wangerin and O'Neil not only carried the Wildcats late in the match, but led the team throughout. Wangerin finished the night with 15 kills, 15 digs, two aces and two block assists, while O'Neil chipped in 11 kills, three digs, two aces and an assist.
 
O'Neil also led a much improved blocking effort for the Wildcats as she recorded two solo blocks and five block assists. As a team, the Wildcats had 11 total blocks. First-years Miranda Krenske (Faribault, Minn.) and Amber Zeiher (LeSueuer, Minn.) also added to the blocking effort as Krenske had four block assists and Zeiher had one solo and three assists.
 
The Wildcats also received big performances from seniors Kelsey Wirtanen (Hibbing, Minn.) and Stephanie Meschke (Faribault, Minn.). Wirtanen led the team with 21 digs and added ten kills and two block assists, while Meschke had 10 kills and two digs.
 
Ashley Kahlow (LeSueur, Minn.)led the team with 25 assists and also chipped in two of the team's eight service aces. Jordyn Wentland (Blaine, Minn.) recorded 23 assists in the shared setting effort and came up with nine digs defensively.

The Wildcats return to action at home on Saturday in another tough MIAC match against Concordia. The action begins at 3 p.m., and will be a part of the St. Catherine Athletic Hall of Fame celebration.
 
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