The St. Catherine University volleyball team a break from non-conferecne action for one night to face Martin Luther College Friday with an opportunity to get back on the winning track. After narrowly losing a competitive third set in extra points, the Wildcats rallied to take the fourth for a 3-1 (25-18, 25-16, 31-33, 25-19) win over the Knights in the Butler Center. 

"That was another good match for us," said Head Coach Corey Phelps. "Almost everyone saw playing time tonight and they learned a lot from the third set."

The Wildcats cruised to wins in the first and second sets, before allowing the Knights to hang on in the third. The two teams exchanged leads and chances to close out the set, but back-to-back Wildcat errors allowed the Knights to extend the match. Finally, the Wildcats ended the match to improve to 9-5 on the season thanks to impressive performances all around.

Alyssa Besch (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) was again solid with a team-high 12 kills hitting .364. She also added three assists, two digs and two blocks including one solo to complete her stat line for the second match in a row. 

The Wildcats threw a block party putting up 12 against the Knights thanks to a career-high performance from Amber Zeiher (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) who assisted on nine. Sabrina Astar (Hastings, Minn./Hastings) and Mackenzie Peper (Osceola, Wis./Osceola) each assisted on four blocks and contributed nine and eight kills, respectively. Astar also committed just one error hitting .471 on the night. 

Anchoring the back row for the Wildcats was reliable junior libero Shanee Herd (Alexandria, Minn./Jefferson) who had a match-high 22 digs, while Abby Palmer (Pequot Lakes, Minn./Pequot Lakes) added a season-high 15 digs. Anna Schrupp (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) and Bailey Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo) each added eight digs with Schrupp also recording seven kills. 

Hayley Levenhagen (Pewaukee, Wis./Catholic Memorial) and Johna Radke (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) each had two service aces and set up the Wildcat offense with 25 and 21 assists, respectively. 

"We've got another big match tomorrow," said Phelps, "and we're looking forward to it."

The Wildcats return to action less than 24 hours later for another tough MIAC matchup at home against Gustavus Adolphus College. Match time is set for 3 p.m. in the Butler Center. 

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