The St. Catherine University volleyball team earned a much-needed Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) win Wednesday, but faced a different challenge heading into the weekend against tough competition at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Dig Panici Classic. Despite putting up solid efforts in both matches, the Wildcats couldn't find a way to overcome its talented opponents in falling 3-0 (29-27, 25-22, 25-13) to Loras College before dropping a 3-00 (25-12, 25-20, 25-17) decision to the No. 9-ranked host Warhawks Friday in Whitewater, Wisconsin.
"We didn't come ready to play in the first match," said Head Coach
Corey Phelps. "We had set point in the first and couldn't finish. We palyed better in the second and crashed in the third."
In the opener, the Wildcats narrowly lost the opening two sets after two solid hitting performances before losing momentum in the third.
Megan Lindenfelser (Nowthen, Minn./Anoka) led the Wildcats offensively with seven kills while also adding 10 digs, two block assists and a service ace.
Abby Palmer (Pequot Lakes, Minn./Pequot Lakes) also had a strong performance with six kills and just one error in addition to her 14 digs. Shanee Herd (Alexandria, Minn./Jefferson) had a match-high 23 digs to anchor the defense, while
Hayley Levenghagen (Pewaukee, Wis./Catholic Memorial) and Maria Davis (West St. Paul, Minn./St. Agnes) each tallied 14 assists. "Against UW-Whitewater, there was a huge crowd and we came out a little intimidated to start. We played very well in the second and most of the third. They're easily the best team we've seen this season. Our defense looked incredible most of the match. it was fun seeing how we stack up to the No. 9 team in the country."
Against the nationally-ranked host, the Wildcats started out slow in the opening first set, but mounted pressure against the Warhawks before narrowly dropping the second. The third set saw the Wildcats hang close to 13-13 until the Warhawks got on a roll to take the match.
Sabrina Astar (Hastings, Minn./Hastings) led the Wildcats in the late game with seven kills and a block, while Palmer and
Emily Carman (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) each had four kills and two blocks a piece. Palmer also added to her dig total from the opener with 10 more.
Herd recorded 19 digs to finish the day with 42, while Davis and Levenhagen again split setting duties with 11 and seven assists, respectively.
Other notable performances on the day included
Amber Zeiher (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) who had eight kills and five blocks, as well as
Zoe Barr (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) who had nine kills and three blocks.
"Tomorrow we hope to compete well with both teams while resting some key players," said Phelps.
The Wildcats are set to face St. Norbert College at 10 a.m. and Wartburg College at 12 p.m. to close out tournament action Saturday in Whitewater.
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