ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University volleyball team hit a bit of a speed bump in Wednesday night's match against St. Olaf. The Wildcats saw their winning streak snapped Wednesday with a 3-0 to the Oles in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play.
On Friday, St. Kate's looks to get back on the winning track with a nonconference match against Northland College. The Lumberjills enter Friday night's contest with a 6-14 record, while the Wildcats are 8-12 overall and hold a 1-6 mark in MIAC play.
However, Friday isn't just another home nonconference match for St. Kate's. The Wildcats will host a "Fright Night" in honor of Friday the 13
th. While Jason and various other monsters won't be making a trip to the
Butler Center at 6 p.m., fans are encouraged to come early. The first 50 students through the door will get free water bottles and will have a chance to win more prizes between sets.
Fans who cannot attend the match in person can tune in via
live stats or
video. Score updates will also be made on St. Kate's official Twitter page (@stkateswildcats).
Here are the five facts to know before tonight's match:
4 – This will be the fourth time in 20 years that Friday the 13
th will fall in October. The other three occurrences happened in 1995, 2000 and 2006. However, Friday the 13
th won't be occurring in October for a while after today, as it won't fall in October again until 2023.
2006 – St. Kate's volleyball team did play on Friday the 13
th in 2006. The Wildcats suffered a 3-0 loss to Hamline University that night, despite playing one of their best matches of the season. After losing the opening set 30-10, St. Kate's nearly took the next two to force a fourth and fifth set. Unfortunately, the Wildcats fell 30-21 in set two and 31-29 in the third.
427 – St. Kate's has scored 427 points in the third set of matches this season, the most in any set. The Wildcats have also won four matches in the third set, three in the fourth and one in the fifth and are undefeated when up two sets to none in a match.
72 – Mackenzie Peper (Osceola, Wis. / Osceola) is the only member of St. Kate's team to play in all 72 sets for the Wildcats this season. Peper has started every match for St. Kate's this season and leads the team in almost every offensive category.
11 – Sophomore setter
Meagan Schwarzrock (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson) has been gold behind the service line for the Wildcats this season, especially against MIAC opponents. Schwarzrock leads the team in aces against conference opponents (11) after tallying the team's lone ace against St. Olaf on Wednesday. Sophomore middle blocker
Kelly Breuer (St. Paul, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) has been no slouch either. Breuer leads the team in overall aces (34) and leads the MIAC in aces/set (.49) this season.