Box Score In its final match of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) season, the St. Catherine University volleyball team knew it had a chance to pick up a win against a struggling Gustavus Adolphus College squad that hadn't won a league contest since Oct. 2.Despite a back-and-forth battle for five sets, the Wildcats couldn't hang on as the Gusties rattled off three-straight points in the fifth to end the marathon match, picking up a 3-2 (25-22, 23-25, 25-18, 20-25, 15-10) victory over the Wildcats Wednesday evening in the Butler Center.
 
After narrowly dropping the first set to the Gusties, the Wildcats battled back from an early deficit in the second set to even the match at one set a piece. However, the Gusties jumped out to an early lead in the third and were able to hold of the Wildcats before allowing them to claw back with a fourth set win to force a deciding fifth-set. In the fifth, the Wildcats found themselves down 4-7 early, but managed to pull even at 7-7. The Gusties then jumped out to a 10-7 lead and never looked back en route to their fourth MIAC victory of the season.
 
The Wildcats' serving game finally returned as they turned in nine aces against the Gusties – four off the hot hand of Ashley Kahlow (LeSueur, Minn.) who has a team-best 25 aces on the season. Libero Shanee Herd (Alexandria, Minn.) also chipped in two aces and had a team-high 17 digs, while Shelby Rachel (Maple Lake, Minn.) also had 17 digs.
 
Jordyn Wentland (Blaine, Minn.) added two service aces for the Wildcats and tallied her best setting performance of the season with 28 assists to fuel the Wildcat offense. Karsee Knutson (New London, Minn.) dished out 16 assists and defensively had seven digs.
 
The Wildcats received top performances from middle blockers Alyssa Besch (Lakeville, Minn.) and Amber Zeiher (LeSueur, Minn.) who combined for nearly half of the Wildcats' kill total on the evening. Besch had a season-high and team-high 13 kills with an impressive .303 hitting percentage, Zeiher while also had her best kill total of the season with 11 and hit .355. Both assisted on one of the Wildcats' four total blocks, while Zeiher added a solo block.
 
Jana Christensen (North Mankato, Minn.) had a solid hitting performance with nine kills, while Abigail Palmer (Pequot Lakes, Minn.) and Zoe Peterson (Rosemount, Minn.) each added six. Palmer also came up big defensively with 12 digs and three block assists.
 
Leading the way for the Gusties was Alyssa Taylor who knocked down 18 kills and assisted on six of 10 total team blocks.
 
The Wildcats complete the MIAC season at 1-10 and will conclude the rest of their schedule at the UW-Steven Point tournament Saturday in Stevens Point. Matches are scheduled against St. Norbert College and UW-Stevens Point at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
 
Wildcats on Twitter
Wildcats on Facebook
Wildcat Volleyball on Facebook