NEW PRAGUE, MINN. –The St. Catherine University volleyball team was itching to retake the court in Friday night's match against Martin Luther College. The Wildcats were coming off a disappointing 3-0 loss to the University of St. Thomas and were ready to show off just how far they've already come this season. The practice paid off as St. Kate's jumped out to a commanding 2-0 lead after the first two sets. Sadly, the Wildcats were unable to close out the victory as Martin Luther won the next three sets to win the match 3-2 (25-16, 26-24, 16-25, 25-27, 10-15).

St. Kate's was dominant in the first two sets, thanks to the strong play from middle blockers Libby Kreuser (White Bear Lakes, Minn. / Totino-Grace) and Hannah Flatness (Elk Mound, Wis. / Elk Mound). The Knights had no answer for the first years' quick play for the middle, as Kreuser and Flatness hit over half of the Wildcats opening set kills.

However, even when Martin Luther adjusted its defense to cover the quick, setters Larissa Kisch (Oakdale, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall) and Emily Neumann (Duluth, Minn. / Hermantown) had plenty of other offensive weapons to set the ball too. The back row attack proved to be a valuable asset for St. Kate's in the first and second sets. Once the Knights adjusted to attacks from Kreuser and Flatness, Abby Palmer (Pequot Lakes, Minn. / Pequot Lakes) and Emma Nelson (Byron, Minn. / Byron) were there to pick up their team. Palmer recorded two kills on two attempts at crucial times in the set, helping the Wildcats take a 17-14 lead when Martin Luther seemed to be closing in.

After her big kill from the outside, Palmer went on a five point serving run, extending St. Kate's lead to 22-15. That lead was all the Wildcats would need to capture the first set. Despite surrendering three points to the Knights, libero Shanee Herd (Alexandria, Minn. / Jefferson) rattled off two tough serves to clinch a 25-17 first set victory for St. Kate's.

St. Kate's looked to keep the momentum on its side in the second set and jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead off another kill from Kreuser in the middle. However, that was the last time the Wildcats would be in the lead until the very end of the set. Martin Luther held a four-point led through the majority of the second set, and at the halfway point, St. Kate's found itself in a 15-11 hole. However, the Wildcats proved they can never be counted out of a set. Thanks to strong serving from Herd, St. Kate's tied the set at 15 then took the lead on an ace from its senior libero.

Even with Herd's impressive serving run, the Knights were able to win the next three points, forcing head coach Corey Phelps to call a time out. It seemed to work, as the Wildcats won the next two points with back-to-back kills from Mackenzie Peper (Osceola, Wis. / Osceola) and Bailey Brownlee (Buffalo, Minn. / Buffalo). Eventaully, St. Kate's tied the match at 21 and took a 23-22 lead on a kill by Flatness.

Martin Luther was not to be deterred. The Knights won the next two points to take a 24-23 lead and were one point away from tying the match at one set a piece. The Wildcats fought off the set point with a kill from Palmer and went on to win the second set 26-24.  

After winning the first two sets, St. Kate's looked to make a clean sweep of things with a third set victory. However, Martin Luther won six straight points to open the third set, forcing Phelps to call his first time out of the set. The Wildcats won the next point and continued to show resiliency throughout the set. However, service errors proved to be costly, and St. Kate's found itself down 24-14. Again, Herd managed to cut the Knights lead to 24-15 with an ace, but it wasn't enough as Martin Luther took the third set 25-16.

The Wildcats tried to put the third set loss behind them but were never fully able to regain the momentum they had in the first two sets. St. Kate's nearly completed a second comeback in the fourth set but lost 27-25. The Wildcats also fought valiantly in the fifth set but fell by a score of 15-10.

Palmer hit a season high 18 kills in the match and led the team with a .390 hitting percentage. Flatness was not far behind. She hit a season and career high 16 kills in the five set marathon while Kreuser ended the day with 11 kills.

Herd was the top defensive player in the match and led both teams with 24 digs and three service aces. Neumann and Kisch combined for 53 assists in the 6-2 system.

St. Kate's will return to the court tomorrow for its second Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) match of the week. The Wildcats will face the reigning MIAC Regular and Postseason Champions the Gustavus Adolphus College Gusties. First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m. in St. Peter, Minnesota.