ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University volleyball team hoped to end its season on a high not in its final match of the regular season. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, and their two seniors Abby Palmer (Pequot Lakes, Minn. / Pequot Lakes) and Shanee Herd (Alexandria, Minn. / Jefferson), the season did not come to a happy end. Though St. Kate's fought valiantly, the team lost 3-0 (16-25, 23-25, 16-25) to the Hamline University Pipers in the final game of the regular season.

St. Kate's was looking to rebound after a disappointing five-set loss to St. Olaf College on Wednesday. Unfortunately, slow starts continued to plague the Wildcats. Despite trading points in the beginning of the opening set, St. Kate's allowed Hamline to score 10 unanswered points, eventually falling into a 15-5. Though the Wildcats did manage to crawl their way out of the hole, it was too little too late, as the Pipers won the opening set 25-16.

St. Kate's looked much better in the second set, thanks to improved offensive play. After hitting .061 in the opening set, the Wildcats hit .154 as a team in the second and were also much better from behind the service line.

Still, the Wildcats found themselves down in the later part of the set 18-14 and in dangerous territory. If St. Kate's failed to win the second set, it would fall into a 0-2 hole in the match. However, Herd went on a four point serving run, highlighted by an opening ace, to tie the set at 18 all. Unfortunately, despite Herd's tremendous serving run, the Wildcats were never able to take the lead. Though the team fought off three set points, Hamline eventually put away the set with a kill from setter Morgan Coleman.

After the 25-23 second set loss, St. Kate's looked to push it to four sets with a win in the third set. However, inconsistent play and serving plagued the Wildcats in the third set. Down 15-14 in the middle of the set, Palmer missed a crucial serve, and St. Kate's was never able to recover as the Pipers went on to score 10 of the next 12 points, winning the set 25-16.

First year middle blocker Libby Kreuser (White Bear Lake, Minn. / Totino-Grace) continued to play well for the Wildcats offensively, leading the team with 12 kills in the three-set effort. Palmer was second on the team with six, while sophomore right side Mackenzie Peper (Osceola, Wis. / Osceola) added five of her own.

Herd continued to be a defensive catalyst for St. Kate's with a team leading 22 digs in the final match of her career. The senior ended the season with a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) leading 729 digs, bringing her career total to well over 2200. Herd is second and third all-time in single season digs (729 – 2016, 685 – 2015) and is the school record holder in career digs.