Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
After picking up two wins to open the 2014 season Friday, the St. Catherine University volleyball team hoped to carry that momentum over into the second day of the Saint Mary's University Sugarloaf Classic. The Wildcats were able to do just that as they improve to 3-1 with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-23) win over Illinois Wesleyan University and a narrow 3-1 (14-25, 19-25, 26-24, 25-27) loss to Wartburg College Saturday in Winona, Minnesota.

"I'm very happy with our first weekend," said Head Coach Corey Phelps. "We saw a lot of great things from the group. The team battled hard with Wartburg, but just came up a bit short. We're looking forward to getting back to work to see what we can accomplish next weekend."

In the second match of the day, the Wildcats' nearly upset a Wartburg squad that received national votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Preseason Coaches Poll. After dropping the first two sets, the Wildcats came from behind to win the third set and force a fourth. Then, the Wildcats had a chance for match point but couldn't find a way to hold on.

First-year Megan Lindenfelser (Nowthen, Minn./Anoka) and sophomore Abigail Palmer (Pequot Lakes, Minn./Pequot Lakes) came up big for the Wildcats against the Knights. Lindenfelser had a team-best 18 kills in the loss and finished the day with 23 kills, nine digs and three total blocks. Palmer led the Wildcats in the win with 10 kills and added 15 in the second match of the day for a team-best 25 on the day. She also compiled 22 digs, two blocks and service ace Saturday to finish the weekend tied for the lead in kills (34).

Alyssa Besch (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) shared the team lead of 34 kills on the weekend with Palmer after adding 13 kills in today's matches. She also tallied seven blocks, five digs, four assists and a service ace, while fellow middle blocker Amber Zeiher (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) was just behind with 12 kills for a two day total of 22.

Setters Ashley Kahlow (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) and Karsee Knutson (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) again fueled the Wildcat offense with 35 and 33 assists respectively. Kahlow dished out 17 in the win over Illinois Wesleyan, while Knutson picked up 22 in the loss to Wartburg. Kahlow added to her service ace total with two Saturday, while Knutson helped out defensively with 17 digs.

Shanee Herd (Alexandria, Minn./Jefferson) was solid again for the Wildcats with a team-best 37 digs and three aces. She finished the weekend with 66 digs and five aces.

Palmer and Besch were both named to the nine-player all-tournament team announced Monday. 

The Wildcats open the season 3-1 and will next be in action at the Loras College Tournament where they will face Monmouth College and Lakeland College Friday, Sept. 5 in Dubuque, Iowa.

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