ST. PAUL, MINN. – For the past several matches, the St. Catherine University volleyball team has showed steady improvements. After being swept in its opening Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) matches, St. Kate's managed to take a set from the defending conference champions and took Carleton College to five sets this past Wednesday.

Friday night, the Wildcats were looking for that elusive first MIAC win against Bethel University, who was also looking for its first conference win of the season. Despite pushing the Royals to a fourth set, St. Kate's was unable to leave the Butler Center with a win, as Bethel's outside firepower proved to be too much in the 3-1 loss (13-25, 20-25, 25-12, 15-25).

Bethel was the preseason favorites to win the MIAC, and the Royals showed why in the first set. Bethel's outside hitters Callie Sinclair and Tina Hoppe went a combined 8-24 with just three hitting errors to help the Royals hit .205 in the first set. By comparison, the Wildcats hit below .000 in the opening set and dropped the opening set 25-13.

St. Kate's was much better in the second set and took a 2-0 lead over Bethel with a monster kill from Mackenzie Peper (Osceola, Wis. / Osceola). However, the Royals went on to score the next seven points, taking a 7-2 lead over the Wildcats. Despite tough serving and changes to the rotation, St. Kate's was unable to overcome the initial five-point deficit and lost the second set 25-20.

The Wildcats resiliency and determination showed in the third set, especially in senior libero Shanee Herd (Alexandria, Minn. / Jefferson). Herd was not about to let her team lose in straight sets and helped St. Kate's win the third set in multiple ways. In the opening play of the set, Herd set up a Peper kill on the right side to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Then setter Johna Radka (Muskego, Wis. / Muskego) followed that up with an ace to give St. Kate's a 2-0 lead for the second consecutive set.

Unlike the second set, the Wildcats were not about to give up this lead. Another kill from Peper and a block by Sarah Mullen (Oakdale, Minn. / Oakdale) extended St. Kate's lead to 4-2.

Bethel continued to try and creep back into the set multiple times, eventually cutting the Wildcats lead to 14-11 over halfway through the set. However, there was no stopping Herd when she went back to the service line. The senior served 11 consecutive points, which included three aces, to give St. Kate's a 24-12 lead. Peper put the set away on the next point with a tip kill from the right side to force the fourth set with a 25-12 third set win.

With the momentum on its side, St. Kate's looked to push the Royals to their fourth consecutive five-set match against MIAC opponents. However, Sinclair and Hoppe proved to be too much in the front row, combining for 14 of Bethel's 20 fourth-set kills to help the Royals take the fourth set 25-15.

Herd finished the match with 27 digs, bringing her season total to 440, and four aces. She is no seventh all time in career aces (87) and remains second all-time for career digs with 1970.

Peper finished as the top hitter for the Wildcats with 12 kills and only three errors while Payton Baker (Forest Lake, Minn. / Forest Lake) was second on the team with eight.

St. Kate's will return to the court on Saturday, October 1, when its hosts a home tri-tournament that will feature Crown College and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. The Wildcats match versus Crown will begin at 11 a.m. in the Butler Center Gym and the match against UW-River Falls will start at 3 p.m.