ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University volleyball team has been defensively strong all season long. On Saturday, the Wildcats offense came roaring to life, leading to a split at St. Kate's home quadrangular. St. Kate's lost its opening match to the University of Wisconsin-Stout 3-2 (25-18,25-18, 16-25, 21-25,12-15) but rebounded with a huge 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23) win over Loras College, ending the day with a 1-1 record.

"It was a very good day today for us," volleyball head coach Corey Phelps said after the match. "We earned every single point and the team had fun in the process."

St. Kate's came out strong in the first two sets against UW-Stout, opening with two straight 25-18 set victories. The Wildcats were on fire offensively, hitting .284 in the two sets combined as a team while holding UW-Stout to a .046 percentage. St. Kate's block was also fantastic in the opening two sets, as Hannah Flatness (Elk Mound, Wis. / Elk Mound), Libby Kreuser (White Bear Lake, Minn. / Totino-Grace) and Kelly Breuer (St. Paul, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) combined for five of the Wildcats nine blocks in the match.

However, the Wildcats were unable to hold on to that firepower in the third set. St. Kate's hit as many errors as it did in the first and second sets combined, dropping the team's hitting percentage to .051. The Wildcats were also unable to hold the early lead it established in the first 15 points. St. Kate's jumped out to a 10-5 lead, thanks to service runs from Larissa Kisch (Oakdale, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall), Abby Palmer (Pequot Lakes, Minn. / Pequot Lakes) and Johna Radke (Musekgo, Wis. / Musekgo), but it wasn't enough. The Blue Devils scored 13 of the next 15 points and forced a fourth set with a 25-16 third set victory.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats struggles continued in the fourth set. St. Kate's never led in the set, and despite tying the score multiple times, was unable to ever take the lead. After UW-Stout's 25-21 victory, the Wildcats looked to win the match in the fifth set, but it wasn't meant to be. The Wildcats and Blue Devils traded the lead for the majority of the set until UW-Stout jumped ahead 13-11. St. Kate's would manage to pull within one, but it was the last point the team would score, as the Blue Devils won the decisive set 15-12 and the match 3-2.

With a disappointing loss in the opening match, it would have been easy for the Wildcats to slog through the second. However, St. Kate's showed determination and resiliency in its final match against Loras, beating the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) preseason favorites in four sets.

After a 25-20 first set loss, where the team hit a mere .024, the Wildcat offense roared to life in the second set behind strong performances from its middle and right side hitters. Flatness lead the charge with three kills, while Kreuser, Payton Baker (Forest Lake, Minn. / Forest Lake), and Mackenzie Peper (Osceola, Wis. / Osceola) each added two, helping St. Kate's take the set 25-22 with an ace from libero Shanee Herd (Alexandria, Minn. / Jefferson) to clinch the victory.

The Wildcats carried that second set momentum into the third and stayed with the Duhawks point for point. With the score tied 10 all, Emily Neumann (Duluth, Minn. / Hermantown) went on a three point serving run, forcing the Loras offense out of system with a strong serve, to give St. Kate's a 13-10 lead. After that, the Wildcats never looked back, and despite the Duhawks best attempts to tie the set, St. Kate's went on to win 25-21 to take a definitive 2-1 lead in the match.

The fourth was just as exciting as the third, as the Wildcats and Loras continued to play competitive volleyball for the first 10 points. However, St. Kate's strong service game eventually took over, as Anna Schrupp served to a 10-6 lead. Just as the Duhawks started to crawl back into the set, Emma Nelson (Byron, Minn. / Bryon) hit a kill from the outside that stopped Loras in its tracks, while Breuer and Peper followed that with two kills of their own.

Eventually, the Wildcats took an 18-10 lead, but it didn't seem to be enough. Slowly but surely, the Duhawks eked their way back into the set until, suddenly, it was 22-20. Nelson gave the Wildcats a 23-20 lead with a kill, which was eventually extended to 24-21 thanks to hitting errors by Loras. However, the Duhawks won two unanswered points, and had a chance to tie the set at 24 with their best server behind the line. Peper, though, hit a monster kill from the right side, cementing the set and St. Kate's 3-1 victory.

Peper led the team in hitting against Loras with a season high 13 kills and a .265 hitting percentage. Breuer also hit a season best 11 kills, while Kreuser added seven from the middle.

Kisch was the top setter in St. Kate's 6-2 system Saturday afternoon, with 24 assists against Loras and 21 against UW-Stout. Neumann added 15 in the second match of the, while Radke lead the team with 22 against the Blue Devils.

Herd continued to play spectacular defense for the Wildcats, with a 33 dig effort in the opening set against UW-Stout and a 24 dig performance against Loras. St. Kate's block also continued to be a huge defensive asset, as the Wildcats finished the match with 12 total blocks compared to the Duhawks four.

With the split, St. Kate's overall record improves to 12-14, though it still holds a 0-7 mark in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play. The Wildcats look to change that this upcoming Wednesday their final home game of the 2016 season. St. Kate's will host Macalester College at 7 p.m. in the Butler Center Gym.