Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 After opening the season with an impressive 3-1 outing at the Sugarloaf Classic last weekend, the St. Catherine University volleyball team hoped to build on that success at the Loras College Invitational this weekend. Thanks to huge performances from the squad's middle hitters, the Wildcats were able to cruise to a pair of straight-set victories over Monmouth College and  Lakeland College Friday in Dubuque, Iowa. 

"We had another good day today," said Head Coach Corey Phelps after the victories. "The matches were not as clean as I'd like them to be, but we're still playing at a high level. I like the fight we're putting up constantly. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do tomorrow."

An all-tournament selection just a week ago, Alyssa Besch (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) continued to lead the Wildcat attack from the middle with a team-best 18 kills on the day. In the opening match against Monmouth, the junior hit an impressive .500 with no errors and six kills. She then followed that up with a match-high 12 kills and .579 attacking percentage, as well as three blocks in the win over Lakeland. She also finished the day with a team-leading four aces and seven digs. 

Amber Zeiher (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) continued to be an asset in the middle as well for the Wildcats. The junior assisted on nine of the Wildcats 20 total blocks on the day which included a career-tying high six blocks in the second win of the day. In addition to her impressive blocking, Zeiher added 11 kills and on service ace. 

First-year Megan Lindenfelser (Nowthen, Minn./Anoka) had a solid performance with the second-best kill total on the day of 15. She led the Wildcats against Monmouth with nine kills and added a block in the process. Maddy Mullins (Caledonia, Minn./Caledonia) added to the Wildcat offense with a solid hitting performance against Lakeland of six kills. 

Karsee Knutson (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) and Ashley Kahlow (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) again split the set-up duties for the Wildcats dishing out 32 and 30 assists, respectively. Knutson led the Wildcats against Monmouth with 18 assists, while Kahlow posted the team's best total of the day with 19 against Lakeland. Defensively, Knutson had 12 digs and a block assist, and Kahlow chipped in seven digs. 

Shanee Herd (Alexandria, Minn./Jefferson) had a defensive team-best total of 35 digs on the day with 26 coming against Monmouth. Abigail Palmer (Pequot Lakes, Minn./Pequot Lakes) continued her solid performance from a week ago with 26 digs on the day. She also added five blocks which included a career-high four in the victory over Lakeland. Shelby Rachel (Maple Lake, Minn./Maple Lake) also had 18 digs on the day. Both Palmer and Rachel had three kills a piece. 

The Wildcats defeated Monmouth 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-22) and Lakeland 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-23) to improve to 5-1 on the season. The Wildcats return for day two action against Grinnell College at 11 a.m. and UW-Plateville at 3 p.m. Saturday in Dubuque. 

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