ST. PAUL, MINN. – After an extremely successful week, the St. Catherine University volleyball team entered its match against St. Olaf College with momentum on its side. The Wildcats earned their first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) match of the season just one week before and were still riding high from their strong performance against Augsburg on Saturday. While St. Kate's managed to win the first set, the team was unable to hold on to the early lead, falling to the Oles 3-2 (25-13, 15-25, 27-29, 25-14, 11-15).

The Wildcats dominated in the opening set of the match, completely getting over the first set jitters that have plagued them all season. St. Kate's was better than St. Olaf in all facets of the game in the opening set, hitting .369 with nine kills and just two errors in 19 attempts compared to the Oles -.296 hitting percentage.

The Wildcats was also strong from behind the serving line in the opening set, as early aces from Abby Palmer (Pequot Lakes, Minn. / Pequot Lakes) and Shanee Herd (Alexandria, Minn. / Jefferson) helped the Wildcats take an early 9-3 lead over St. Olaf. However, the Oles were never out of the set, and eventually cut St. Kate's lead to 14-10 midway through. Palmer and Herd put a stop to that, again serving the Wildcats to a 25-13 first set victory.

The second set was more evenly matched, with four lead changes and five ties between the two teams. However, St. Olaf eventually took a 17-12 lead St. Kate's could never recover from. Though the Wildcats managed to cut the deficit to 17-14, the Oles closed the set by winning six-consecutive points to win the set 25-15 and even the match at one set a piece.

St. Kate's tried to rebound with a third set victory, which statistically has been the team's best set the entire season. The Wildcats have won 619 points in the third set, which has led to 15 set victories. St. Kate's, though, was never able to close out St. Olaf. Despite holding a 24-21 lead, the Wildcats gave up three consecutive points, allowing the Oles to tie the set at 24-24. After that, St. Kate's served for set point three different times but again were unable to put St. Olaf away, eventually losing the third set 29-27.

The Wildcats were able to rebound with a 25-14 fourth set victory, thanks again to dominate offensive play at the net and from behind the serving line. St. Kate's was led offensively by Palmer and Hannah Flatness (Elk Mound, Wis. / Elk Mound), who combined for nine of the Wildcats 18 fourth-set kills, helping the team hit .400 for the first time all season.

Unfortunately, St. Kate's was unable to carry the momentum into the decisive fifth set. Although the Wildcats took a 10-9 lead midway through the set, they were unable to hold on for the victory as St. Olaf won six of the next seven points to win the set 15-10.

Flatness recorded 13 kills in the five set loss while Palmer was second on the team with 10. Herd was the top defensive player for St. Kate's, with 27 digs and three aces, while Emily Neumann (Duluth, Minn. / Hermantown) dished out 24 assists in the five set effort.

With the loss, the Wildcats overall record falls to 13-16 on the year and 1-9 in MIAC play. The team looks to rebound on Saturday with a 5 p.m. match against Hamline University.